Mountain Song
by Hiccstrid
Summary: Tunnels, caves, lions and snakes. Bloodlust, kids with weapons, kids with trackers in their arms. A shrinking arena. A crumbling mountain. What could be more fun? *SYOT closed* (Mostly based on knowledge from the movies, but not limited to.)
1. Prologue

There's a noise like a ticking and I don't need to look around to know that everyone is staring as bright yellow numbers count down.

_Fifty_

_Forty-nine_

_Forty-eight..._

I do look around though, I need to know the area, I need to know my playing field. It's bright, that's not hard to tell. There's rock under us, rock beside us, rock everywhere. There's no hidden traps because there was no place to hide them. All there is is an endless expanse of dirty yellow rock, jutting upwards and suddenly dropping down, crevices and cracks are my only real enemy besides another twenty-three kids who want to kill me.

_Thirty-five_

_Thirty-four_

_Thirty-three_

_Thirty-two…_

Mountains. Nothing but mountains. Bare, rocky mountains - I can't see any green patches, no streams of water. How do they expect us to live more than a few days if they weren't going to give us food and water?

_Twenty-seven_

_Twenty-six…_

While the ticking noise drowns in everyone's ears, I notice kids begin to look around frantically. They need to know where to go, what to do, where their allies are. I know that there are kids who won't go to the Cornucopia and if I were them, I wouldn't either. Not with how this thing is set up.

_Twenty_

_Nineteen_

_Eighteen…_

There's a sharp incline in the rock. Stupid, needless things lay at the bottom - ropes, backpacks, maybe water bottles. I know the Careers will do everything they can to take those anyway but it's clearly the least desirable. I can't see what sits at the top, but I know it must be something worth wanting. I have to climb. Anyone who wants what's up there has to climb. Anyone who wants what's up there will no doubt be pushed to a bloody gruesome death with their skull smashed against rock and their brain splattered on the floor.

_Five_

_Four_

_Three_

_Two_

_One..._

It hits and for a moment it's like the world has stopped. Everything slows down, and there is nothing but adrenaline pumping in my blood and my heart pounding in my ears. In an instant, that is gone.

_Zero._

And I run.

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><p><strong>AN: Hello, my name is Lexie! It may look a bit suspicious that I have no stories written here whatsoever and yet I'm writing an SYOT but fear not, it's just that this is a NEW account and therefore, no documented stories. This story will focus moreso on the reapings and the actual game as opposed to the time in between, though there may be reference to it, and so a few questions will be asked about that. The form for your tribute is on my Profile, please PM me all submissions. Most of the chapters will not be written as this one was and they will definitely be LONGER.<strong>

**Thank you.**

**~ Lexie**


	2. D1 & D2 Reapings

_**Velvet Labelle**_

It was finally the day.

That was my first thought when I shot out of bed, golden blonde curls flying everywhere as I did. I wasted no time in flying off my mattress, my running over the floor and throwing open my doors clearly making enough of a racket for my brother to feel the need to bang something against the ceiling below me.

"Keep it down!"

I smirked and stomped down on the floor a few times just to upset him. Unable to wipe the grin from my face, I went to the mirror and forced a brush through my hair. Despite how horrible and tangled it got overnight, I always managed to get it looking nice. I always had to look nice, my mother taught me that - if you looked nice, people liked you.

And when you were going into something like this, people liking you was something you needed.

Green eyes stared back at me while I tied my hair back in a ribbon and practiced my smile. Once the curls were tamed and held back, I padded over to my closet. Everything felt so much better today. The carpet against my feet, the sunshine flooding in, and especially the memories of all my years of training. Training for the day that had finally arrived. The day when I was going to volunteer for the Hunger Games.

Once I'd changed out of my pajamas into my dress, tight fabric gripping my neck like vices and shoes bringing a terrible pinching to my ankles and heels, I smiled into the mirror. Anything to look pretty, anything to be liked. Only by the people who mattered of course - sponsors, the President, the people of my District.

I could care less about the dirt poor dust rags in District 8, it was my District that I needed to represent, and it was the Capitol I needed to look good for. Not some kids I was going to kill anyway. My brother, Pearl, was already downstairs, dressed in his nice, reaping outfit. Mom still dressed him for it so he sort of looked like a monkey stuffed into a suit - well, more so than usual.

I met him at the bottom of the stairs, grinning at the younger blond and giving him a small shove before I linked arms with him.

"Milady," he greeted mockingly and I forced back a smile to look stern.

"Ah, hello, sir."

There was a stupid sort of snort that came from the both of us as we headed out the front door and towards the center of town so that some other kid's name could be pulled just for me to take their place, my soon-to-be district partner no doubt coming under the same circumstances.

"So… you're doing it this year?" he asked after a long few minutes of unending silence, though it hadn't been awkward. It was a comfortable, sibling sort of silence that I didn't mind in the least.

"Yeah. And you're still doin' it when you get to be my age?" Of course he would. I'd been training him since he could walk just like Dad did with me. Needless to mention the Academy as well.

"Yeah…" Though we'd said the same words, his sounded less sure than my own, less confident. He sounded scared almost, but Labelle's didn't get scared. We were a strong family, made up of winners and never-give-uppers and win-or-die-trying people.

A smile came to my lips, pushing his head playfully. "Don't chicken out on me now."

He mirrored the smile, but it was clearly forced. Much like how he'd said his words. Sometimes Pearl just seemed like a mirror, doing what the other did, but you could see that he wasn't feeling the same. He didn't want to disappoint people, I knew that. But you couldn't just live your life as a worthless piece of nothing when you could be a victor.

"Nah, I'm just… are you sure you should go?" Fear sounded in his voice - not for him, I realized. But for me. How insulting. "I know you can do it and all I just don't want you to go and not come back. I really don't.. I sound like a bitch but.. You're my sister and I'd miss you."

He may have been questioning my ability to win but at least he wasn't calling me weak. He just didn't want to end up without a big sister. A soft smile tugged at the corner of my lips and my hand slipped down to enclose my brother's, thumb running over the back of his hand. "I'm going to come back. I'm not a loser. I can do it. Just you watch," I insisted, leaning over to kiss him on the forehead.

For a second, there's a moment of tender silence before he slips his hand away to wipe away the red lipstick mark I'd left on his skin.

_**Luminous Galore**_

Our escort was a small woman who I was pretty sure I could break in half without even trying. She had long, golden hair - not blonde, literally golden, shimmering in the sunlight - the palest skin I'd ever seen and an atrocity of what was probably meant to be makeup on her face. She looks like she can't even move in her little dress, and nearly tripped over her heels twice just coming onstage.

She had just barely caught herself by grabbing onto the microphone, a loud high-pitched screech entering all out ears. The woman didn't sound much better.

"Hello," she greeted, clearly embarrassed by all the mistakes she'd already made. Obviously new at her job. Not to mention, terrible at it. When she was met with nothing but silence, she cleared her throat and forced on a smile again. "And welcome to the fourteenth annual Hunger Games!"

There wasn't any full-blown applauding or whistles. However, there were people clapping - myself one of them - and smiling, and that was how you picked out who was going to try and volunteer. It was mostly the older kids, my age, as it was every year. Little twelve year olds didn't have enough training yet to want to go into the games.

The escort seemed to have been encouraged by the response because her smile looks more genuine and there was more light in her eyes. "Now, before we begin, let's watch this short film I've brought you all." We'd all seen it a hundred times, or that's what it felt like. If we tried, we could all probably talk along with the voice droning in our ears about the uprising we all knew about fully well.

It went on forever until finally, "This is how we safeguard our future" and it was over. Now we could finally get to the part that anyone actually cared about.

"Now, what we've all been waiting for…" At least she recognized we were all tired of standing around in the sun. I wanted to get in the games. "I will select two brave young tributes to participate in this year's Hunger Games."

I couldn't help but snort. Like she was going to really be choosing, she probably wouldn't even finish reading the name before someone stepped up.

Nevertheless, she stumbled on over to one of the bowls, unceremoniously diving her hand inside and picking out a card. I could feel the tension of the girl's who were waiting for the name of whoever was reaped to slip through the escort's lips so that they could jump forward and take place. With bated breath on one half of the mass of the people, a completely oblivious seeming woman on stage went back to the microphone and opened the slip of paper to read off the name.

Her mouth may have been forming a 'C,' perhaps an S. But it didn't matter because as soon as her mouth opened and she took in a breath, some girl with long blond curls shot her hand up.

"I volunteer!" she shouted, and it looked as if every other girl around her turned to glare._ That was no fair_, I could practically hear their whiny voices now. _She didn't even get the name out, she shouldn't be allowed to do that._

Apparently it didn't matter much to that girl though - I knew her face from the Training Academy, her name was completely lost to me - because she held her head high and strode up to the stage as if she were the greatest thing in the world. Our escort, meanwhile, looked completely dumbfounded, however she still went ahead and put the slip back, managing to make her way back to the girl on stage. "And… well, alright. What's your name, dear?"

She stepped directly in front of the microphone, the light in her eyes not dimming once despite the few snickers she was getting from her boldness. "My name is Velvet Labelle," she introduced. "Seventeen years old, and soon-to-be District One victor."

At least my district partner was good looking.

Miss I-Can't-Walk-In-Heels looked like she was holding back a giggle herself. "Well then, Velvet," she began, clearly uncomfortable as she put a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "I do believe with that… attitude, you can do just about anything." I was damn sure it was meant to be sarcastic but Velvet sure took it as a compliment, smiling out into the crowd. "May we get a hand for Miss Velvet here?"

We did, everyone in the crowd clapped, some kid I was sure was her brother was whooping for her, and her parents were ecstatic. I didn't even need to question if they were her parents, they had the same overzealous attitude and were far too excited to be anyone else's. I crossed an arm across my chest, running the other hand through my hair before bringing it down to join the other. "And now, our male tribute."

At this point, she looked like she knew what to expect. Heels clacking noisily against the polished stage and her skinny legs looking like they were going to break with every step, she traveled to the other bowl, plucked out a piece of paper and came back to the microphone where Velvet was still acting like she was in some sort of pageant.

She opened the slip, opening her mouth and pausing, shut it again and glancing around at us expectantly. That earned a laugh out of me and a few others around me, making her smile along with us, appearing more soothed. She looked down at the slip, and at least I had the courtesy to wait for her to read off of it.

"Jasper Lion."

Soon as the last syllable had left her mouth, I stepped out from my group of boys - I'd stood near the edge for a reason. "I volunteer." Smirking a little to myself, I made my way up to the stage, much more casually than 'Miss Velvet' had.

Much more comfortable now, the escort set her long, golden fingernails on my back and smiled. "And what's your name?" she asked, stepping aside to let me speak into the microphone. I spared a glance at Velvet and damn was it pleasing to see how offended she looked by how much friendlier I was being treated.

"Luminous Galore." As if everyone didn't already know me. And that wasn't just a cocky statement, I knew just about everybody - maybe not by name, but if they were in the District, I probably knew them.

"What a name." I stepped away from the microphone, giving Goldie access to it again. "Now, let's have a big round of applause for our two tributes for the fourteenth annual Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favour."

As everyone clapped and cheered for us, I turned to shake the other teenager's hand, a competitive smirk slipping onto her red lips that I mirrored back to her without a second thought.

_**Ophelia Isla**_

There was a time when I was like all the other Careers. When I liked the games, liked the District, liked the Capitol. There was a time when the Reapings, if they could even be called that when all we ever had were volunteers, were a time of celebrating and dreams of the next year coming along, the year when I might finally volunteer.

However, as I stood there in the center of a bunch of girls my age, all I felt was anger. Anger and resentment, hate and determination. I would still volunteer, no doubt. But not for the same reasons, not anymore. I wasn't going for glory or money anymore, like I had dreamed of for so many years. I was going for vengeance.

Impatiently, my arms crossed and uncrossed, fists clenched and unclenched as I stared at the woman on stage. Already, people are practically climbing over each other, begging to be the first to volunteer. Everyone wants to bring pride to their District, I just want to make my parents happy, bless their souls.

It's a plump, stout woman who stands on stage. She had been in our District the year before, and several years before that. She'd gained weight - however, at least she'd learned to dress herself better. A white dress was blinding everyone in the ground with the sheer brightness of the color, and how it stood out against her tanned skin. Considering how many years she'd been with us, she'd no doubt figured out how it worked around here. Why bother asking for anyone but volunteers?

"Now, before I go picking any names out." Lazy woman, couldn't even bothered to go to the bowl and pick out a name. "Would any young ladies like to volunteer?" She chuckled as if it was meant to be a joke, but there are girls who raise their hands into the air as if they had to catch a fly mid-flight in order to be chosen. I wasn't going to allow myself to be unnoticed though. I only had a few years left to volunteer, and I wanted it done when my anger and resentment was still strong and pungent. It would just give me a stronger chance of winning, really. All that anger and violence and rage building up inside of me.

So I was the only one who actually pushed my way out of the crowd of girls, running closer to the stage just to be sure that I wouldn't be passed over. I pushed my way through the seventeen year olds and the eighteen year olds, putting myself in front of Briar Stonewool, our escort. "I volunteer." I began stepping up the stairs, hands gripping onto the railings by my sides. "I volunteer," I repeated, more to myself than anyone.

I did it. I finally did it, I was going into the Games. And in all likelihood, I may be coming out.

Her smile never faultered. The woman came over to me, taking me by the hand and leading me to the microphone as I stared out at the faces that began to blur. I did this, I trained for this, I was ready for this. I didn't feel ready. It was probably just how overwhelming the situation was, all the emotions rushing at once. My eyes landed on a Peacekeeper and any other emotion turned to anger, my soft, confused looking face turning to a sharp glare.

"Now, what's your name, dearie?"

For a second, I only have the crashing rage in my ears and I don't know what she'd just said but after a moment, I process it and tell my name to her, not once letting my eyes fall away from the Peacekeeper.

"Ophelia." For a moment that was all I said, but then I remembered that there was another part to my name and that might have been sort of important. I forced myself to look away, shaking my head a bit. "Isla," I added on suddenly. A collective chuckle came from the crowd and it made me want to rip someone's eyes out. So I was feeling a little nervous, they shouldn't have been laughing at me.

"...Ophelia Isla."

They wouldn't forget me.

_**Coltan Tantalum**_

"Ophelia Isla," Briar repeated, as if just to get it right. There was another small chuckle from the crowd, and I wasn't entirely surprised though Ophelia seemed pretty upset by it. The Reapings were usually a day full of good spirit from our District. I didn't know about the others, of course, but our own seemed pretty happy about it and I don't see why any other's wouldn't.

We were all going into the same deathmatch and, sure, some of us had training but we were all going into the same thing, why would another District be upset by it? Besides, we all owed it to Panem to send in tributes, whether it was a good day sending them in or not. We owed them.

Next was going to be the boys, and we'd all pretty much agreed that I would volunteer. The boys were going to put aside their hopes and dreams of competing for me to enter. An acquaintance of mine from the Academy gave me a pat on the shoulder as our escort came back to the microphone, pleasant smile never leaving her lips.

"Boys?" she prompted, looking to us. The oldest, the strongest, the wisest. There were always a couple of guys who decided they deserved to go above me, but I was still the first the raise my hand and make my way through the group of boys around me.

"I volunteer as tribute," I announced, a smile on my face. I wanted to show off just how proud I was to be in the Games, to prove that I was worthy of getting another honorable victory for my District. I trained long and hard for this, I could do it. I didn't second guess myself for even a second as I made my way onto the stage, Ophelia on the opposite side of me.

"And your name is?"

"Coltan Tantalum." Short and sweet. I wouldn't be _that guy_ who went on and on about giving District 2 yet another victor, thought I was hellbent on doing just that.

All they really needed to know was my name though.

And I was sure that they wouldn't forget it.

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><p><strong>AN: So there's the first chapter, introducing your first 4 tributes. (Coltan has a pretty short part whOOPS). I still need two D3 tributes and the D4 males before the next chapter, but I'm sure that they'll come in. The overall idea of the story has changed really, and all the Chariots, Interviews, Training, etc will all take place within the story, so if you do get accepted, expect to be asked a few more things about your character.<br>Things might seem a little slow and expository-esque but hopefully that will only be the first few chapters, thank you!**

~Lexie


	3. D3 & D4 Reapings

**I am actual trash but okay here I am again and here's the second chapter. Clearly my update schedule didn't work out too well but I was waiting for someone to send my a certain tribute. They haven't. So I'm saying fuck it. Also, we're starting with the D4 male today instead of D3 female. Why? Because I just want to do this morning beach scene okay please bear with me. It'll go D4 male, D4 female, D3 male, D3 female, so its just backwards basically.**

**Also, to the creator of Safin, I did change the circumstances and events of his reaping a bit, I hope you don't mind!**

**Anyway, here you go!**

* * *

><p><strong><span><em>Safin Bayview<em>**

"I heard there's a new Escort this year."

_Of course you did. _I rolled my eyes at my friend, Lennox, a smile coming along with the action. He always knew what was happening around our District, whether it was a private family matter that slipped out or the biggest news, Lennox always knew what it was. "Yeah? How'd you hear that?"

He gave me the same answer he always did.

"I have my sources."

The both of us gave one another a long, comically serious look, his chocolate eyes burning into my own green ones, until the both of us were laughing over absolutely nothing. Soon as we were done being the complete idiots that we were, I ran a hand back through my still-damp hair and looked out at the beach laid before us. All I could think to myself was, _This is the last year._

So long as everything went right, so long as I wasn't called up on that stage, the beach would be my home forever. I would get a job, become an adult, live a normal life. I may get married or have children. This would be the last year that I could be taken for the Games, and then I'd be able to stay with my family forever. And really, if I'd gone the last six years without my name so much as being pulled, what was the likelihood that it would happen at eighteen years old?

I was only pulled out of my thoughts when some goddess approached me, shaking my shoulder and repeating my name. Then I realized that it wasn't a goddess sent from Heaven, itself, but it was Nakita and I was still on the beach and I was with my friends, not lounging about with the Gods on Mount Olympus. I may as well have been, though. The fantasies that played out in my head of my life were as close to heaven as one could really get in Panem, besides winning the Games and living a life of luxury, that was.

"C'mon, Safin, we gotta _go,_" she insisted, standing from her kneeling position in front of me, leaving me with only the view of her tanned legs before she walked away to put on her dress for the Reapings, hung over a tree nearby. Nakita's older brother, William, came shortly after her, clapping his dripping wet hand on my shoulder.

"Get movin', Bayview."

Looking to my left, I saw that Lennox had already left me, and upon turning around fully, I spotted him walking with Nakita. _Had I really been that deep in thought? _Jeez. I hopped up nevertheless, stumbling a little in the sand, and going to stand next to my best friend, Theo.

"You volunteering this year?" I asked him as I grabbed a towel from the tree branch where all of our belongings were currently hanging, and used it to shake the remaining water from my hair. Didn't want my clothes to get all wet, of course.

"Nah. I'm gonna give it one more year. Just a little more training. _You_ volunteering this year?"

At first, I shrugged, to preoccupied with getting into my pants without ruining them to pay attention to what he said, but after a moment, I shook my head entirely. "Hell no. I've got to stay here. For... for Miya." Miya, my big sister of twenty-three years old, was pregnant at the time. I wasn't about to tell Theo that I was scared to go into the games, so wanting to see my first niece or nephew was a good reason to want to stay home. Of course I _did_ want to see Miya's kid, it was a_ true_ reason for wanting stay home, but it wasn't my biggest problem with going in.

"Whatever you say, man." He shrugged and pulled on his shirt all in one movement, and it was as if we all finished at the same time because we were moving towards the center of town where the districts would be held. Hell knew why Reapings were held so early in the morning. I was one who usually woke up early - if I slept at all - but I didn't like having to get up knowing that I actually had to _do things_ during the day.

As we walked, myself squished between Theo and William, Nakita on the other side of William and Lennox on the other side of Theo - I couldn't help but give one last glance back towards the beach, and give one last little prayer that things _would work out this year._

**_Ripple Seagrace_**

There was a new Escort.

She was no doubt the youngest we'd ever had, hardly looking a day over twenty. She was pretty enough but she had to have one of the worst dye-jobs and most horrid spray tans I'd ever seen in my life - and when it came to Escorts, I'd seen a _lot _of bad dye jobs and spray tans in my fifteen years of life. She had sea shells laced into her splotchy blue hair with strings of beads, the largest seastar earrings I'd ever seen in my life, and a long, blue dress that ended in something replicating the foam of the waves.

But no, she didn't look_ terrible._

"Hello, District Four!" Her voice was nice, if nothing else. She seemed happy to be there. Her bright smile lit up the town center, hands going to hold onto the microphone and I was almost worried that orange was going to come off onto the thing. That'd be embarrassing for her, but I couldn't say that I wouldn't laugh. "My name is Terra Trapp, and I am _so _happy to be your Escort this year in the fourteenth annual Hunger Games!" As she droned on for a few minutes about things I'd heard a million times before, and began to play that old film, I looked around for my Mom and Dad.

Eventually, I spotted them. Mom was chatting away quietly with one of the other mother's, both of their eyes set unmoving on the screen, my own's hand set on her chest. They were probably talking about how wonderful this film was. I knew that I never got tired of it. It just wasn't necessary for me to listen anymore, I knew it by heart. When I saw Dad, his eyes were already on me, and when we locked eyes, I was given a smile and a thumbs up. My parents were the best.

A smile crept onto my face as well and I gave him a small wave in return before bringing all my focus back to the screen, just as it was ending.

"Just lovely," Terra sighed into the microphone when it was over, letting off a moment of silence as if she were taking in just how great the film was - though she'd probably seen it a hundred times before as well. "Anywho! Let's get to what you're all _really_ excited about, yes?" She giggled into the microphone, let go of it - it wasn't covered in orange die, by the way - and moved towards the bowl with short, quick steps. Her long fingers hesitated above the bowl dauntingly before it dipped deep inside and plucked out a slip.

It didn't matter what that name was.

Because I was going into the games. No matter what.

Upon returning from the bowl, she cleared her throat and looked over the piece of paper as if she couldn't figure out exactly how to pronounce whatever was on it. I couldn't help but snicker at her apparent confusion, as did a few people around me.

"L-Lee.. uh.. Leeuhcothea? Leeuhcothea Rae."

We were too busy trying not to laugh to even think of volunteering.

"It's pronounced _Loo_-cothea," I shouted up to her. An embarrassed blush barely made it through her orange cheeks, her mouth barely opened to stutter out an apology and correct herself before my hand was in the air and I was calling out again. "I volunteer." Even if I _hadn't_ been planning on volunteering, thirteen year old Leucothea Rae couldn't handle herself in the Games. _Someone_ would have volunteered. That idea was only reinforced by the disappointed disappointed sighs around me as I made my way past all the groups of older kids.

Some may have thought that I was too_ young _to be volunteering, that I wouldn't be able to do any better than Leucothea would have but they would horribly mistaken. I'd been training since the day I was born, or somewhere around that time. I could win and it wouldn't even be difficult.

"Ah, hello, darling," Terra greeted me once I was on the stage, still clearly embarrassed about my correcting her only minutes before. She handled herself well, though. She was rather good for a new Escort. "And what's your name?"

She took one of her small steps to the side to give me room in front of the microphone.

"Ripple. Ripple Seagrace." My eyes caught on my parent's once again, who couldn't have looked happier. They should have looked happy, of course. They were the ones who had been preparing me for this all my life, especially my father. Speaking of Dad, he gave me a big thumbs up to show me just how proud he was of my volunteering.

"Well _thank you_ for volunteering, Ripple. Let's have a big round of applause for Ripple Seagrace, yeah?" She gave off her bright, white-toothed smile as her hands went together into small claps, the tops of her fingers hitting her palms in the most noiseless clap I'd ever heard. However, the lack of noise she made was supplemented by the claps of my peers standing on the stone below me. "Now!" Her voice wasn't as pleasant up close; it was loud and _too _cheery but I'd made the decision to get up on stage, after all. "Boys."

I stepped forward so that she could do her uncomfortable waddle-walk to the bowl on the other side of the stage, her hand near-immediately going into the bowl as opposed to the taunting she had done with the girls'. She came back a second later and I sort of leaned over her shoulder to read the name before she had said it. I had no idea who the name belonged to, but I scanned the crowd as if I would be able to a face to a name I didn't know.

She took a big breath before calling out the name on the slip.

_Safin Bayview._

There was a silence that swept over the town square that didn't make sense to me. Were the girls really the only ones who wanted to volunteer this year? A group of boys at the very front turn towards a singular boy in the center, and it was easy enough to identify who Safin was. He looked shocked, scared; all the things that I would expect to see in a reaped kid form District 12. But a trained eighteen year old from Four? No way. The silence was still jarring to me, but the look on his face was even stranger. All in an instant, that look was gone, and it was replaced with one of neutrality.

As he began to walk up - albeit, slowly, a sign that he _must_ have still been feeling what his face displayed earlier - a smile slipped onto his face, but all at once, there was someone running out, towards him. "No, I volunteer!"

Safin looked relieved for just a second, but that look fell when he saw who it was that was volunteering for him. He hurried over to the other boy, a seventeen year old, taking hold of his shoulder and shaking his head.

"No. Theo, no." The two of them faced like this for a minute. I only caught pieces of what they said - a lot of Safin's was "No. No, stop. No." And the volunteer - Theo? - kept saying things about his family, some girl named Miya. I didn't know, nor did I care, I just kind of wanted them to get along with it. Either way, one of them was going to be my district partner. Either way one of them was going to end up dead. Either way, I was going to be the one coming back to my home on the beach. So it didn't really matter which one of them accompanied me.

Eventually, the Peacekeepers were coming to them, so Safin turned away from who I could only assume was a good friend of his and hurried onto the stage beside Terra. I eyed him strangely, and there was an uncomfortable silence that settled over the crowd. He still smiled, but it was shaky, and his eyes were locked on Theo, who was being pushed back into place with the other seventeen year old boys.

"Well... that was.. _quite_ a show, wasn't it?" _I'm sure it was _wonderful _entertainment for the Capitol_ were words that I was sure lingered in the back of her head. "What's your name, sweetie?" She was really one for pet names, wasn't she?

He swallowed thickly and I watched his Adam's apple bob before he stooped down to level with the microphone. "Safin Bayview."

"And that was your friend down there, wasn't it?"

"...Yeah."

"Well!" All at once, she took her place at the microphone, her face growing into a smile that made it seem as if absolutely nothing had happened. "Let's have one more big round of applause for our two _wonderful_ tributes this year! Ripple Seagrace, and Safin Bayview!"

Some of the clapping sounded uncomfortable and forced, while others sounded enthusiastic as hell. I spared a glance towards Theo in the crowd, and he wasn't clapping whatsoever but I wasn't expecting anything too different. I turned on my heel and stuck my hand out to Safin. He looked out at the crowd for a moment and then looked to me, a smirk sliding onto his lips as he shook my hand.

**_Flynn Derezze_**

Every night before the Reapings, my two older sisters would fuss over me. Before, it had always been filled with harmless jokes and teasings - most often about how different I looked from most of the District Three boys. Blond hair, blue eyes, much taller, but I was just as skinny and pale as any of the others, that counted for something, right? However, the past two years with them had been different.

On the year of my twelfth reaping, they had been somber. The had stroked my hair, kissed my forehead. I knew what it was for. I knew that I was eligible to be chosen to go to my death. And I knew fully well that if I were reaped I _would_ be going to my death. Now, my thirteenth year, they were still worried, but much more laid back than the year before. Obviously, I hadn't been picked for my inevitable demise, and so they were more confident that I wouldn't be at age thirteen either. So was I.

Every morning before the Reapings, I would go to my neighbor Joel's house. Joel was an old, old man who talked to me. Just talked. Every morning, we would sit in the cold District Three air, watching out breath as he talked nonsense to me. I never quite understood what he was saying, but I knew that he was smart and kind and wise. He knew what he was talking about even if I didn't.

"Are you afraid, Flynn?" he asked me, him in the rocking chair of his porch, and myself sitting on the wooden floor, picking at the splintered wood like an idiot. I'd probably die of infection quicker than anything else were I to go into the games.

"Hm?" I looked up from my very serious business of giving myself a billion, or something close to that, splinters. After processing the words, I shrugged and looked back down. "About what?" I knew fully well what about, but that didn't mean that I wanted to talk about. I tried to avoid talking about the Hunger Games as much as I could. It was too scary a prospect for me. Facing the reality of being chosen for that massacre was the last thing I wanted to do.

He let out a laugh that was more a gust of air being pushed from his air at once than anything else. "You know what I'm talking about, Flynn." He used my name too much for my liking but I'd been taught to respect my elders; if he wanted to address me after every sentence, let him. Maybe it was just to make sure that I was still there, that he was still talking to me.

"...No."

"Are you sure?"

I didn't know why he would bother asking if he already knew the answer. I pouted a little, blowing some of the blond locks from my face and letting out a small huff of annoyance. I was never really annoyed with Joel. But I was a young teenager who was only good at pouting and being emotional. I couldn't even do the things that my district _bred_ me to do. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I got reaped, I was pretty useless to the district anyway.

"Maybe. I guess... I don't know."

"Think of it this way. If your sister... what's her name? Latsey. If Latsey was reaped, would you volunteer for her?"

I shrugged again, then remembered that I was speaking to near-blind seventy year old man who hardly ever looked at me to begin with. "I guess.."

"Then you can't be too scared. You're a brave lad, Flynn." Except I wasn't. Latsey was my sister, if it were anyone else being reaped, I would never step up. Besides, I _couldn't _even step up for Latsey because she was a girl and I was a boy. That's how it had always been, I had no idea why Joel would even ask something like that when he knew it was impossible.

"Just remember this: Be careful of the friends you choose. For you _will _become them."

That was one of the things he said that was easier to figure out. At the same time, I wasn't going to become my friends! I understood what he meant but it wasn't true, was the thing. If I even had any friends, or at least allies, in the games, I wouldn't act just like them. That was just stupid.

. . . .

My family was mostly quiet as we walked to the Reapings. My older twin sisters, Gemma and Vega, were on either side of me, my little sister Eddie holding hands with my mother, and Latsey trailing in the back on her own, arms crossed over her stomach. This was the last year she could be picked, and the second year I could. It was the best we'd ever been able to relate - the both of us had terrible nerves tugging on the insides of our stomachs, like a man with a rope, tugging and pulling endlessly inside of us, causing a nauseous feeling to settle inside of us.

We all departed with hugs before getting into lines, our fingers getting pricked. It still came as a small shock to me. It was only my second year and while it had been worse before, the sting on my finger still shocked me - unlike Latsey, who looked as if nothing had even happened to her. We all got into our individual sections, myself near the very back, opposite to my sister who was on the other side and in the very front.

I can see Gemma and Vega standing with all the other adults no longer eligible for the Games, and my mother, with Eddie sitting on her hip is standing with them. For a second, I thought that there was eye contact with Vega, and I gave a small wave.

Much to my disappointment, she didn't wave back.

**_Ciyna Qillon_**

There was a deafeningly loud silence in the square, as was always the way at the Reapings. It was only broken by the chipper voice of our Escort, Elissa Frost, who always managed to sound so happy on these days. Now, I was a happy girl too - very social and friendly - but even _I _found it inappropriate for her to be so excited and happy on the day of the Reaping, the day that a kid from District Three was going to be sent off to their death.

We'd only had one winner in all fourteen years of these Games. We weren't exactly expected to come out alive.

"Oh, how I've _missed _District Three!"

I was sure that if she were the Escort for any other district, she would have said the same thing. District Three was nice, it was my home, but it wasn't anything too special. It wasn't something that someone from the _Capitol _would actually_ miss. _So we all knew that Elissa was just gritting out lies in hopes of raising our spirits. Maybe they wanted us to act like District Two, with their three Victors; wanted us to jump and shout and cheer and volunteer. As if.

She was met with the same silence that she was every year, but she kept on smiling. We watched the video, let her talk about how happy she was to be in District Three another year, told us that we would _definitely _have another Victor this year. Lies. Every word was met with a smile that told us how she hated the smell that came with our District, hated standing in her miniskirt in the freezing morning. Her eyes shone with the phrase, _Two more District Three kids will die this year._

It's unsettling, how happy someone can be, only to be changed by a situation like that one. After a prolonged speech about our "lovely little district," she strutted confidently to the bowl that held the boy's names. Hm. So she was switching it up for once.

There wasn't a beat missed between when she got back to the microphone and when she spoke the name clearly into the microphone.

"Flynn Derezze."

There isn't a single sound.

For just a second, because I was so used to having the girl's name read out first, I thought that some boy's name being called meant that I was safe for another year. The familiarity of the situation fooled me into thinking, for a split second, that a girl had been chosen and that girl was _not _me. Relief washed over me and I was met with bliss for what seemed like an eternity until Peacekeepers were dragging a struggling boy onto the stage.

Right.

It was a boy.

All at once, the anxiety knotted up in my stomach again, making me want to throw up. I almost felt worse for the boy though. He looked so close to crying, his whole frame shaking on the stage, looking petrified out into the crowd. I could hear the crying of two, maybe more, girls amongst the people. Poor Flynn. Poor Flynn's family, who were no doubt the people crying.

There wasn't even a pause. There wasn't a hint of remorse or sympathy in Elissa's eyes, only that manipulative, cheery stare that burned into all of us, chanting _Be happy! Be happy! It's not like you're going to your deaths or anything!_

She patted the young man's shoulder encouragingly before walking to the other side of the stage, plucking a name from the very top of the pile of slips, and returning mere seconds later. She always took too long to get to the actual calling of the names, and once that point arrived, she rushed through it as if she had better places to be. She realized that she was going to have to be with these kids for the following days, right? She understood that she was going to determine whether or not the tributes would like her based on how much she "cared?"

Did she not understand that?

"Ciyna Qillon."

What...

"Is there a Ciyna Qillon out there?"

I hadn't even seen her open the paper! This had to be a joke.. No, it couldn't be me. It was a different Ciyna. Of course.

There were no other Ciyna's.

The girls around me, my _friends_, turned to face me, some of them looking sorry, some of them not looking at me at all. I froze, feeling just as helpless as the boy on stage. There was a pathway made for me by my friends. They were opening the gates to the afterlife, leaving me to die.

A shaking smile was forced to my lips, trying to cover up my desire to break down into tears as I made my way through the passageway, followed the clearing up to stage, signed my death certificate. I couldn't hear _my _family crying, but for the sake of my sanity, I assumed that they were doing just that. I hoped that they cared as much as Flynn's family did, hoped that they were crying over my death as I stood before them, alive.

"How brave these two young children are! Can I hear some applause for them?" Of course there was none. Only stunned silence, tears from Flynn's sisters and maybe the cries I heard from my own family weren't just my imagination. After the long seconds of silence, Elissa cleared her throat and stepped back, making room for us to shake hands.

I turned and put my hand out for him, the smile still shaking on my lips, but he didn't shake it in return. He didn't even look at me. I couldn't entirely blame him. Through the roaring of blood pumping and the pounding of heart in my ears, I barely heard Elissa speak into the microphone once more.

"May the odds be _ever_ in your favor."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Alrighty, so there's Chapter 2!<strong>

**It's significantly longer than the last chapter, so sorry to everyone who's tribute was in the last chapter because I recognize that that was short as fuck okay, I can admit that. However! I am planning on trying to keep the chapters about this long for the rest of the story, hopefully. Maybe. **

**I do have a question though: Do you think I should keep it to just 2 districts for the first couple of chapters? I feel like that might be moving too slow for all of you. It will only be 6 chapters to get through the Reapings that way, but that is quite a lot, so do you think I should do more? Like 3 districts per chapter, maybe even 4? Or would that be too long? Send me your thoughts.**

**These new 4 characters are now on the website, which you can find right here: mountainsongstory . blogspot . com**

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. D5 & D6 Reapings

_**Anya Powers**_

The Victor's Village was completely still, as usual.

That's typically what happened, when you were the only family living in it.

During the winter, it almost felt like the snow stopped dead in the air if I was still. In the summers, it was just sweltering heat that soaked into my every pore and things weren't as still because I could see the heatwaves and I had to move every five seconds to see if a new position would be cooler than the last. Mornings like the one I was currently basking in were the best, though. Birds chirped in the distance, it was chilly enough to make a pink tint creep up into my pale cheeks but not so cold that my fingers searched for warmth in my pockets or my mother forced a scarf around my neck.

I was sitting on the porch swing to the right side of the front door, a cup of coffee gripped between thin fingers. The peacefulness was broken by a loud shout from the upstairs bedroom, something that sounded like, "Salem, _where_ are my fucking hairpins!" followed by a loud, groggy, "Shut up." and then, "Young lady, watch your language!" from another part of the house.

That was when I knew that the silence was broken for the rest of the day so I stood from the bench with a sigh, and headed back inside to get ready with the rest of my family. I tried to enjoy peaceful mornings while I could. Sure, I was just as rowdy, rambunctious, and loud as my siblings but morning were a time when I could think without being interrupted by someone pulling on my hair within ten seconds.

"_You _were the last one who used them, where are they?" Savannah was insisting when I entered our shared bedroom. She was bent over the mess of girl still in bed, covers tugged up over her head but a tangled mess of dark hair peeking out under the blankets. I quirked a smile at the sight, quietly making my way to my own dresser on the opposite side of the room from my two older sisters.

"_Salem-"_

"Shut _up_," Salem suddenly snapped, throwing her blankets off and giving Savannah a look that told her she'd be kicked out of the Victors' Village sooner than she could blink if she didn't fucking shut up. Salem was constantly doing that. Silently threatening us in going back to our old, little house in District 5, just going through the motions instead of enjoying the luxury we were served now. It felt pretty luxurious to us anyway but I couldn't help but often think about how nice the Victor Village in District Two must be.

They hadn't seemed to notice me yet, as I pulled out the stiff grey fabric that made up my reaping dress. Mom always told us to never put our nice clothes in the drawers, especially not right after she'd ironed them, but it wasn't _my _fault that Salem had been folding the clothes and just so happened to include my dress in the load. She was good at misplacing things, getting scatterbrained from time to time, becoming disorganized because her brained would so suddenly wander off to think about other things. That was most likely why Savannah was getting on her case.

Suddenly my mother was barging into the room just as the slightly wrinkled dress was up around my knees. She took Savannah by the shoulder, forcing her away from Salem and shoving a little plastic case full of clips and pins and hairties into her hands.

"_There_. Now _leave_ your sister _alone _and _go get dressed."_

The two women, equal in stubbornness, stared at each other for a long time until, finally, Savannah huffed and stormed out of the room. Mom sighed, coming over to kiss my on the forehead and smooth down my dark hair, with a sigh of "good morning" and then she went to Salem, carefully tugging the blankets away to reveal the tall girl, hair strewn across the stark white sheets, limbs bent into an uncomfortable looking position, and mouth tightly shut with thin lips as if she were annoyed.

"Darling, it's time to get up."

I was the youngest of five children.

There were the triplets, who were the oldest - Jason, who was dressed in a crisp, grey suit that once belonged to my father until he'd grown just a little too big for it. As was the way most families did things, so they didn't have to constantly make or buy new clothes, it was passed down to my eldest brother. Once he grew out of it, it would be passed down to the youngest male, Neil. Neil was only ten months older than me - for some reason my parents had decided to get busy nearly as soon as I was born.

Then there were my two older sisters, Savannah and Salem. Jason, Savannah, and Salem were all twenty-one. Salem, when she was my age, had won the Hunger Games because she was so much smarter and clever than anyone else. I liked to think that I took after her. Neil was newly nineteen, and I was still eighteen. Just one more year. My parents were in their forties but still looked young and if it weren't for a few wrinkles and grey hairs starting to appear, it would be easy to mistake my mother for another one of my siblings.

It was easy to see that we were family. Not only did we all have the same dark hair and blue eyes - save for my father and Neil who inherited brown eyes instead - but we all dressed like we were going to take a family photo. Different shades of greys adorned all of us, some choosing to look more lavish than others, like Savannah with her little pieces of jewelry and white knit cardigan, buttoned just so over her dress.

I was a simple woman. Stiff grey dress that felt too tight on my sides, black flats, and a small coat just to keep the chilly morning air from getting to me, in case it got worse throughout the day.

I parted with my parents and siblings, saying my goodbyes and telling them that yes, we most definitely should have rice with dinner tonight. They pricked my finger without a single response from me and then I was finding my way through the crowd for my last year. The girls around me would no longer be standing in these cramped little pens, we would be standing with our own family, watching from the sidelines as some children were picked to fight to their deaths.

_**Rev Lockson**_

Initially, my father's suit had been several sizes too big for me.

My mother had pinned and cut and sewn at it until it fit me decently, but it had been a real struggle because every other minute, she was stabbing me with a pin and I would get an "Oh _hush_, dear" when I complained. I just didn't want to soak the thing with blood before we got to the reaping was all. Now, standing among the other fifteen year olds, I felt all too small again.

I _was_ too small, was the thing. Standing at five foot, five inches, I made myself easy to trample. And it was quite the oddity to most people, when they saw me next to my six foot three father. I tried to make myself comfortable in the limited space, moving around every few seconds. I was trying to make my way towards the back of the group, as it was much less occupied than the very front where every boy around wanted to be to see the poor kid who would be chosen.

I had nearly made my way past some tall, broad shouldered boy when a nasally, male voice blared through the microphone and I flinched at the sudden assault on my ear drums. It had nothing to do with my height or being scared before you get any funny ideas, I was just a little sensitive to loud sounds.

"Hello, District Five!"

I internally groaned, trying to peek over the tall, broad boy now in front of me. Damn it. I moved towards the side so that I could see out of the side of the group. It wasn't an ideal position, leaning out like that, but it was better than nothing. He was a shorter man, with darkly tanned skin and jet black hair that was slicked back on his head. He didn't look too young or too old and if asked to place his age I would say somewhere between thirty and sixty, it was impossible to really tell.

The usual routine of him introducing himself as Atticus Horne in case there were any new children to the district that needed a proper introducing - new as in born within the year, no one from anywhere _else_ ever came into our district, save for the Escort and Victors from other districts - then he would laugh and say, "Let's get started, shall we?" He would walk over to the girls' bowl and things would seem to slow down, my heart pounding loudly in my ears. I knew it was futile to look around for my parents but I did try and spotted a few girls looking around at one another nervously. Some held hands. Some looks over at the boys like they wanted nothing more than to run over and embrace until this was over. One pair kissed.

By the time I looked back at Atticus, he'd returned to the microphone with a slip of paper in his hands, perfectly fitted suit hanging comfortably off of him and I was suddenly aware of how small I felt in my clothes again.

"Anya Powers," he spoke into the microphone, not sounding grim but... maybe apologetic? It was nice have someone who cared about the kids in the district. Or at least pretended to. A silence swept over the crowd as a look of realization came over his face. Everyone knew the Powers. Just like everyone knew the Locksons. For different reasons of course.

My family was known for being the apple pie, picture perfect family with a housewife who doted on her son and husband, and a husband who worked as a security guard, tall and strong, firm but caring. When parents were scolding, they said, "Why can't you be more like the Lockson boy?" Women wished Rev Lockson Sr. wasn't a loyal man, and women - though jealous - still adored Leona Lockson because she was just the best host anyone could ever know. The only fault was that I didn't take to my father's looks. However, I was a gentleman and I was a top student in school, so that made up for any height I lacked in.

The Powers, meanwhile, were Victors. Well, the one sister was. Salem Powers was the first victor of District Five in the fourteen years we had participated in the Hunger Games. Savannah Powers was a constant in the District's markets and if I were ever looking for her, that would be the first place to go. Eliza and Matthew Parents seemed to love their children a lot and were constants at my mother's dinner parties. I didn't know much about the brothers but I knew even less about Anya. She stuck to the Village. I had rarely seen her since those three years ago when her sister won and they were moved out of their house across the street from mine into the Village. Not that I had hung out with her, her being fifteen and me being twelve. But I always did admire her.

She was fierce and clever and never gave up so the silence that settled over the crowd like a blanket felt out of place. Had she changed in three years? Had she lost her spark? Was she scared? Weeping? I couldn't hear anything like that. The stillness was broken, suddenly, as she moved towards the stage. No one said a word because no one was sure what to say, I was sure.

Cry because she was reaped? Be glad because it wasn't someone else? Be sure that _she_ would win because she was a Victor's sister after all, so why doubt her abilities in the first place?

Once upon the stage, she smiled but it looked forced and her eyes seemed to scream for help while she seemed to be forcing herself to ooze confidence.

Atticus seemed excited at what had happened, turning towards her with a grin and leaning in close to the microphone to speak again. "Hello, Anya. You wouldn't happen to be one Miss Salem Powers' sister, would you?"

At that, she appeared to relax a little more, letting out a chuckle as she nodded. "Yes, Sir."

"Well," he smiled, taking her by the hand and kissing the back of it. What a fanboy. "It may just be another great year for the Powers! Now... for the boys." He clearly didn't seem as excited about plucking out a name that start with a P and end with an S. Maybe with some OWER in the middle. Still, he went over to the bowl on the opposite side of the stage, as was his job and plucked a name from the bottom.

My heart clenched and breath stopped as he walked back, opened the slip, and stared at the paper for a few long moments. It looked like Anya had peeked over his shoulder but my eyes were glued to Atticus' mouth, watching as his mouth formed an R. Then an E. Finally, a V. And then time sped up all fast as _my_ name was followed by a, "Lockson."

For a second, I felt like I couldn't breathe, and then all at once, my breath was coming out too fast and too quick. I knew what was happening. It hadn't happened since I was a child, and I thought I was done with these, but anxiety crashed over me like a tidal wave. My lungs felt too heavy, my heart was trying to beat its way out of my chest and it felt like someone was banging on my ribcage with both fists, screaming at me. My hands shook, and everything felt a million miles away. The billions of eyes staring at me - because they _knew_ me and they stared at me like they stared at Anya but it was not with the same sureness that I would be fine - felt like they were getting further away and blurry and then getting all too close and suffocating me. Hours passed in seconds and I was left wondering if I was dead yet and oh god please just let me die now I don't want to do this please.

Within seconds, it _couldn't_ have been very long, hands were on me and I felt the urge to fight them. I nearly screamed but my head was spinning and I was more likely to throw up all over myself than I was to be able to fight. I could hear my mother weeping for me and I wondered if maybe that was someone else weeping for Anya because I couldn't see my mother; where _was_ she?

Still feeling sick and dizzy and feeling heavy weights on my chest and shoulders, I looked around frantically. My mother came into sight, finally, leaning into my father who just stared back at me. Was he crying? I couldn't tell.

When someone else touched me was when I realized that I was being spoken to. I stumbled away from the hand on my shoulder quickly, staring at Atticus with wide eyes. Was I crying? I brought a hand up suddenly to feel my own cheeks which were, most definitely, wet with tears. Everything passed by in a rush. When I wouldn't speak in return to whatever Atticus was saying, it just sounded like roaring in my ears, he continued. When I wouldn't shake Anya's hand because I was shaking too bad to even stand for much longer, they turned me around and lead me away.

And I was crying.

_**Rosie Johnson**_

My reaping dress was itchy.

It had long sleeves and went down to my knees, all of it in one ugly brown color. White socks that were much dirtier on the soles than Miss Finch would ever let me tell anyone were pulled up over my ankles, and grey shoes that were one size too small forced onto my feet. Big Brother had done my hair though, so at least that looked nice. It was pulled back into short, black braids that didn't touch my shoulders. He said that I looked beautiful in the dress but, after managing to sneak a look in the mirror, my bright blue eyes clashed so hard and the dress was littered with stray hairs and some questionable stains that I knew he had to be lying.

Still, I wasn't as if I had much of a choice.

The whole orphanage was ushered out at once, some children still pulling on clothes or clothes or tying up their hair. One of the older boys ran out still washing shaving cream off of his face. My big brother and I were always on time and I was currently settled on his back, his legs hooked under my legs and my arms wrapped around his shoulders. I was still sleepy and nearly fell asleep to the soothing, constant bobbing of his body as he walked. I yawned into the fabric of his vest.

It was my first year in the reapings. It was his last. And yes, I was scared. But more importantly, I was sleepy and I just wanted to go back to bed. I'd begged Big Brother to let me stay in bed but he told me that if I did, a monster was going to come while he was gone and drag me out there. I didn't believe him, of course. Monsters weren't real. But he'd tickled me until I laughed so hard that Miss Finch told us to shut up and she did drag me out of bed.

Miss Finch was about as close to a monster as I could imagine.

Alex Watson, my best friend, came running up and he shouted up to Big Brother - he was always shouting, for some reason he just couldn't keep his voice down. Even when he was whispering, he was too loud. Miss Finch was always getting really mad at him for it. "Hi Luke!"

I perked up at the sound of his voice and looked over Big Brother's shoulder, down at the little boy below us. It was going to be his first reaping too.

"Hey, Alex," he greeted in return and I could tell that he was smiling because he was always smiling at people no matter what.

"Is Rosie sleepin'?"

"Hey, Rosie, you sleepin'?"

I giggled softly at that, shaking my head and leaning forward to press my forehead into the back of his shaggy black hair.

"No, she's not."

"Well, can she come down?"

"Hey, Rosie, can you get down?"

I laughed again, wiggling in his grip until he stopped, kneeled down, and let me climb off of him. I still held onto his hand tightly as I walked next to Alex. We chatted about how warm it was today and how itchy my dress was and how exciting this was. I didn't think it was very exciting but Alex was one of those kids who had always loved to watch the Games. He had some kind of morbid fascination with watching them and I think that that was why so many kids thought he was weird and weren't very nice to him.

They weren't very nice to me either. That's why we were such good friends.

Before we got into the line of people, Big Brother pulled the both of us off to the side. "Okay. They're going to prick your fingers, okay, it'll just be a little bit of blood. Don't be scared, it's like a bee sting." I'd never liked getting stung by bees but I seemed to be a bee magnet in the summer so that assured me. It would be a feeling I'm used to. Or at least, I would get used to it in the next six years I was eligible for the games. "Rosie. After the reapings are over, just stay where you are and I'll come get you, okay? Alex, I'll come get you first and we'll go get Rosie together. Understood?"

We nodded in unison, Alex's a little quicker and eager than my own.

"Good. C'mere." He wrapped his arms around me suddenly, encompassing me in a tight hug and for a second, I wondered if he was _scared. _I hugged him back without hesitation because, even if I didn't show it, I was scared too.

The three of us walked to the desk, Alex in front of me, me in front of Big Brother. It hurt a little when he pricked my finger but I just hissed a little and moved on because I wanted to prove that I was brave as Alex who, even though his big smile faltered a little when the blood was drawn, was very brave and didn't make a sound. Big Brother gave me one last hug and then we were all separated. I went to the twelve year old girls in the very back, Alex went to the twelve year old boys directly opposite of my group, and Big Brother went all the way to the very front and to the right with the oldest boys.

After everyone had filed in, the Escort had walked up to the microphone - that's what Big Brother had called her, right? An Escort. Yeah, I was pretty sure. She was a giant of a woman, she must have been at least six feet tall. With all that height, she was also very full. Vivacious curves, huge breasts, a round, full face and black skin. Her bright blonde looked big and beautiful framing her face, little spirals surrounding her. The humidity was getting to her no doubt. Not that I was doing much better; I was sweating profusely under my thick, itchy dress.

She greeted the district in a high voice, long purple eyelashes shadowing her eyes as she scanned the crowd. We watched a film that I remembered seeing every since before my parents died, and I had just been a little baby then. I'd been seeing that film every year since I was born, Big Brother hadn't even seen until he was four years old. That's when the Games started and he told me all about how things were before the Hunger Games. I thought he made up a lot of it because he was so little, he couldn't possibly remember so much.

Finally, her melodic voice sang that it was time to find their two tributes for the Fourteenth Annual Hunger Games.

Her heels _click clack click clack click clacked _against the small stage, elbows bent and hands poised up as she walked. I thought she looked like a beautiful princess and wasn't very happy with the girls next to me who whispered and giggled about how ridiculous she looked. So what if purple didn't look so good with... well, anything she was wearing? I thought she looked like a princess no matter how bad her colors clashed.

I didn't even feel worried when she walked back to the microphone, clearing her throat once the paper was up at eye-level with her. She dropped her hand down back to her side before she spoke.

"Rosie Johnson?"

My world stopped. The girls stopped giggling, a few whispers could be heard around me as everyone turned on me. My eyes were wide and I could feel tears welling up. Me? How could this happen to _me_? What had I done? Was I being punished? Oh God, I hadn't even made my bed, Miss Finch was punishing me, wasn't she? This was punishment for being so troublesome, for being friends with the boy who liked to watch the Games where people died, the boy who would be watching _me _die. How did this happen?

I waited. I waited for someone to step up for me. People had done that before, hadn't they? Not in this district but... there were volunteers all the time in District One and District Two. Even District Eleven had had a volunteer, someone would step up. They would recognize that I was too little, that I wouldn't make it, someone would step up.

No one did.

I swallowed my fears, carefully stepping out of the crowd.

**_Elijah Broberg-Schrader_**

I was high as a fucking kite.

Normally, I wouldn't take anything the day of the Reapings. The day before? Hell yeah, I'd get smashed. I'd let all my anxieties and worries be drowned out by the drugs flowing through my veins. Doing on the actual day of the Reapings was just asking for trouble, though, and I was never willing to risk it before. But I was under too much stress and it wasn't as if I was going to be called. I would just go through another year of having to stand around and what was wrong with getting a little high? I was just trying to ease out of my worries.

_"You fucking piece of shit! She's dead! She's fucking dead, it's your fault and you're going to pay, you little fuck!"_

The Morphling, for once, was disappointing me. It was not easing anything. There was still a headache pounding in my skull and I groaned, pressing a hand to the side of my head in hope for relief.

_"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I'll just- I'll take him home. I'm sorry. Goodnight."_

The woman on stage called someone's name but I was too out of it to care. The ground below my feet was still just barely changing colors and I usually I'd be so into all the colors and shapes and sensations around me but I was _irritated_ and _angry _and I just wanted to go home. My eye was still throbbing with the punch that had been thrown at me just the night before and my head was aching from the little sleep I'd gotten and I didn't want to be there.

The guy standing next to me made a choked noise, kind of like a sob, and that made me look up. The drug was wearing off. I knew I should have taken it later in the day, just before the Reapings, I'd taken it so early that I'd hit my peak long before I left and now I was just left with a crash that made me want to punch something. The man looked like he was about to cry, jaw set and angry. His look was nearly heartbreaking. I let myself trace his gaze to the... oh.

A young girl, who couldn't possibly be any older than twelve, was making her way up to the stage. She looked exactly like him, right down to the scared, upset gaze. She was looking from side to side and I felt a twang of sorrow for them. I always thought that people should just have one kid because why would you put a person through watching their sibling die? Assholes. I felt it when they locked eyes and she choked out a, "Luke."

I could feel the anger pulsating off of him. He knew she was a goner. He knew she was a goner and that there was nothing he could do about it.

She got to the stage without a hitch, tears on her cheeks and little frame shaking. The woman knelt down to shake her hand gently, giving her a smile and what looked like whisper a few encouraging words to her. My stomach turned with guilt and sadness, the incident of last night pushed to the back of my mind. Right then, all I could think about was the boy with bright blue eyes and dark hair and his identical little sister crying on a stage. His identical little sister dying in an arena.

A long few minutes passed and Rosie slowly stopped crying, wiping the tears from her cheeks she went and gripped the Escort's hand hard, wiping her cheeks with the other hand. Every few seconds she would sniffle and shake and look like she was about to burst into tears again and I didn't even realize that I'd put my hand into the boy, Luke's, hand until he squeezed mine hard. I felt terrible. I had nothing to do with any of this but I felt terrible. Maybe it was all the events from the past days building up on me but I felt like I was going to cry, yet no tears came to my eyes.

"Well..." The Escort sighed, rubbing the back of Rosie's - that was her name, right? - absently. I couldn't help but think of what a nice woman she must have been. She didn't need to care about some crying little kid. "Time for the boys." I wonder if she'd really come prepared to this job. When she had decided to be an Escort, did she realize that it wasn't a job meant for kind women like her? It was for cold people who didn't care about the fate of crying children, that was the only way to make it through. To not care. I was really bad at this, which was probably why I wasn't able to make it through a single day without shooting drugs into me.

Not letting go of Rosie's hand, she walked to the other bowl and Rosie's shoes made a little pitter patter compared to the clicking of the Escort's shoes. She plucked a name from the very top, not seeming very happy about what she was doing. She came back to the microphone, prying her hand out of Rosie's so that she could open the paper. It looked as if she were mentally steeling herself for another crying child and I felt the boy next to me tense up. He didn't have another little brother out there or something did he? God, that'd be terrible.

"Atlas White."

I didn't recognize the name but I did recognize the face. His reaping was significantly less dramatic than Rosie's. There was a tense moment and I swore I could hear his heartbeat but moreso, I could feel the guy next to me tense up and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out if he were debating whether to volunteer or not. Once I saw Atlas' face, though, there wasn't a doubt in my mind.

_"Sir, I'm sorry but I don't disclose any of my clients' information with third parties."_

_"You little _fuck, _just _tell me_! Did you sell it to her or not?"_

_"Maybe."_

_Suddenly he was on top of me, driving his fist straight into my face. I cried out, throwing an arm up to shield my face as I writhed helplessly beneath him. He shifted so he could punch me in the gut and I came curling up off the ground struggling for breath. _

_"She's dead! You sold her some drugs. Some _illegal_ fuckin' drugs and you're _dead_. She's dead and I'm gonna make sure you fuckin suffer like she did." He grabbed my grabbed my wrists, pinned them in the ground, and spit in my face. "_You fucking piece of shit! She's dead! She's fucking dead, it's your fault and you're going to pay, you little fuck!"__

__I was skinny. I was a skinny, weak, unimpressive teenager who was matched up against a furious, full grown man who had alcohol on his breath. I struggled the hardest I could but found myself totally vulnerable. I couldn't even kick him like this, I was hopeless, I was a__ dead_ man. I was-_

_"Dad!"_

_I turned my head quickly to see some young guy, maybe fifteen or sixteen, staring at us with wide eyes. For a second, the man on top of me's attention turned away to who I guessed was his son. I took the moment to shove him off of me, scrambling out from under him and stumbling to my feet. Ready to fight, I wiped the blood off of my busted lip and balled up my fist, staring at the older man._

_"This is the kid who killed your mom, kid! He fuckin' killed your mom. He killed her, he killed Carla, oh God. C'mon, help me get him, he killed her, he killed her." He was crying now but I was still wary because he wasn't going to be caught off guard if he pounced again. _

_"No! Dad." The boy cautiously approached, deep green eyes sparing one quick glance towards me but then immediately going to his father and staying there. He pushed some messy brown hair out of his face, gently putting a hand on his father's back. "Dad, let's go home. You're drunk, you'll feel better in the morning, yeah?"_

_"No, I wanna kill 'im," he cried, hands going over his face as the tears poured down his face. I considered running._

_The boy gently helped his father up, looking over at me every few seconds as if to assure me that everything was going to be fine. The father compliantly stood and turned, starting off in the way the boy had come with the boy's support. He looked back to me, but averted his gaze downwards now. _

_"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I'll just- I'll take him home. I'm sorry. Goodnight."_

I felt guity as I watched them walk away. Everything hurt and it was only partially from the beating I'd just received. I remembered the woman, of course. She'd come to get some Morphling because she was worried about her son being reaped. I guess I'd killed her. Thinking back, I had heard of some woman who had overdosed the night before. I had caused deaths - and hers wouldn't be the first.

That's why I needed the drugs. I was guilty.

I watched boy with dark green eyes and mess brown hair, make his way up to the stage. I felt the boy next to me shift away and before I could think, I shouted out, "I volunteer!"

For Atlas. For Atlas' mother. For Rosie. For this boy.

There was stunned silence, even the boy next to be fell silent and turned to stare at me.

There was no turning back now.

I slid my hand out of the boy's - had I really been holding it that tightly? - and carefully stepped out of the crowd.

"I volunteer," I repeated.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So this is quite a longer chapter! But hey, there was a lot of shit that happened and I'm pretty damn happy with how it turned out. Thank you to those of you who review, I really appreciate it! These characters will be added to the website (if you want to go see it and don't already know where it is, it's on my profile).<strong>

**I still need more characters (though not very many!) for a full roster and even for the next chapter, I still need one character. (I think. D8 female, I know I need and I believe D9 is filled but feel free to check. And even if it is, please do send in a character for another district!)**

**Thank you for reading!**

**~ Lexie**


	5. D7 & D8 Reapings

**_Arden Villa_**

Looking in the mirror that morning, I was busying myself thinking about whether or not I should straighten my hair.

Orange locks glided through my hair as I primped it with my fingers, pursing my lips at the mirror and squinting back at the hazel eyes hidden by thick eyelashes in the glass. Our mirror was littered with scratches and questionable stains but it had belonged to my dad so when Jasper, Mom's new husband, had tried to get rid of it, I just set it up in my room. It really did take up too much space as it was a long, wide, bulky thing that was simply propped up in the corner leaning outwards and I often had to step over the corner to get the small adjacent room where I kept my clothes.

Ultimately, I was reminded of Mom telling me that I had very pretty, curly hair and my dad agreeing with her, then Bryn and Hayden saying that they were jealous of my hair to which I replied, "I know, right?" Then, finally, Mom saying that I looked trashy when I straightened my hair. I almost straightened it just out of spite but, instead, just ran a brush through the golden-red locks and smoothed out my dress. Now, if anything was trashy it was this dress, and it was Mom who picked it out so there.

At least, that's what I would say because in all actuality, I loved how it was the color of dirty yet such a _pretty _color of dirt, and how it felt stiff and bunched up in my hands and how it smelled like pine and mint because of the bottle of perfume I'd actually spilled on it when I was young and it still belonged to my mom.

I hurried into my closet to slip on my nicest shoes and on the way out, I tripped over the corner of the mirror, tumbling down with a, _"Shit!" _

Jasper came in without even a knock, myself looking up at him from my position sprawled on the floor. "You okay?" He asked, and that was the only thing I liked about Jasper. Where my mom would have scolded my for swearing or would have said something along the lines of _Young Miss, I did _not _just hear what I think I did, did I? _Jasper asked if I was okay. He still was nothing compared to my dad.

Surely looking grumpier now, I stood and brushed off my dress, turning the golden leaf necklace around the right way. Dad had given my that. "Yes." Crossing my arms to let him know that yes, I was _fine_ and yes, he could leave and no, I didn't want him there right then, he smiled and nodded before turning and walking away, shutting the door quietly behind him. I let out a breath when he was gone, and now I couldn't even leave my room for another three minutes at least because I had to keep up the mask that I was mad at him. That was the mask I always wore. My _Fuck-You-Jasper-Staffon _mask. Occasionally the _Fuck-You-Jasper-Staffon-And-You-Too-Samantha-Villa-For-Marrying-Him _mask.

After a slow three minutes ticked by, I stood from my bed, smoothed down my dress, and wandered out into the kitchen where Mom stood with a cup of coffee in hdo er hands, Jasper nowhere in sight.

"Did he leave yet?" I asked conversationally, ignoring the eggs in a pan on the stove to grab some bread and smother it in jam, then going for the bananas but Mom took my wrist to stop me.

"Young Miss -" See, I wasn't kidding when I said she called me that. All the time. "He made you a perfectly good breakfast, would you please eat some it?"

I just stared for a second before, in a fit of defiance, grabbed the bread I'd already covered and took a big bite of it, giving her matching hazel eyes a challenging look. If anything, she just looked disappointing and not in the mood for a confrontation so she just released my hand and sighed, casually strolling off to the other side of the kitchen.

"No, he's getting ready to go." Mom was still in her bathrobe, hair up in curlers. She didn't have natural curls like me. She had that _straight_ hair that she thought was just so trashy apparently and she'd been curling it every day for as long as I could remember, telling people that of course it was natural, even though they were all the same people who knew quite the contrary. Peacekeepers had to leave earlier than everyone else and it wasn't _necessary _that I be ready as early as I was but the idea of being late for anything made me nervous.

"Okay." With that said, the conversation was over and I put banana slices on my bread, colliding it with the jam and was halfway through a bite when I exchanged awkward farewell nods with Jasper as he left the house, white helmet tucked under his arm and I watched him begin to put it on as the door shut behind him, blocking my view of anything past those doors.

When it _was_ time for us to leave, the both of us were silent. That was the norm for Mom and me nowadays. We said what needed to be said, occasionally tried to mend the patch in our relationship but due to my stubborn bitterness could not, and then did not speak. I could always hear her and Jasper talking. The never shut up and sometimes I wondered if they talked about me - _"That young lady is way out of line, we need to send her somewhere, what am I going to _do _with her?_" - or if they talked about my dad, who I had decided was killed in a well-thought out plan by Jasper to marry my mom like some kind of ancient fairy tale where a prince - a rather stingy prince if it was Jasper - would do anything for the princess, include kill her love.

Never did she talk to me.

"You wore your hair in curls," she said suddenly, and I looked up at her. She had my hazel eyes but not my hair. Hers was a coffee bean color with gray hairs starting to wind themselves in but she didn't look her age with the sunbeams shining through the trees down at her. She looked like a teenager, young, but like an old woman, wise.. I didn't know what to say to her so I simply looked back down. "It looks very nice."

Self-consciously, I pulled an orange curl behind my hair and glanced up once again. "Thanks." There, it ended. There was silence again as we continued on the long walk from our house far out in the forest towards the center of town, the smell of damp earth and wet leaves filling my senses. It smelled like home. The awkward, heavily silence that had sadly become familiar to me lingered on until long, thin fingers were closing my hand in.

"Arden, you know I love you," she whispered and I was afraid that I saw tears in her eyes, the both of our paces slowing down. We were nearing the town and I could hear the hustle of children and parents making their way to the Reapings. "And- and I'm so sorry that I married so soon after your father passed and I know you're angry with me and... I just..." She choked on tears and I didn't know what to do. "I love you."

"Mom..." The anger that usually fueled everything I did with her faded and I felt the urge to hug my mother. So I did. For the first time since Jasper, I hugged my mother for real, one that I was wanting to participate. I held her tightly, burying my face in her shoulder until I felt as if I were six years old again and that I was the one being held. "I love you too," I promised.

_**Bazaar Tane-Flores**_

I had woken up to one of my little brothers in my face.

After getting over the heart-attack it had induced after the nightmare I had already been having, the day went about as normal. Only... more solemn. Seether still whispered his words, Seely still acted ten years older than his age of ten years old, and Seysly still made me get her an oatmeal cookie from the top shelf even after she'd been explicitly told by our mother, "Not until after." We all sat down for our breakfast before getting dressed in our nicest clothes, and shipping out to the center of town.

"Ma, can I have _two _cookies when we get back home?" Seysly had asked, still playing the card that she had most definitely not eaten one and that _I _was the reason there was a cookie missing from the jar; which was technically true, but I hadn't eaten one.

"No, darling."

We lived relatively close to the town square, especially considering that I knew more than a few kids who had to walk from the very edges of the forest to get to school every day, and for that I guessed we were pretty lucky. If nothing else, it meant that we got to sleep in a little later than some other people. On the way there, Seysley on my shoulders and her hands in my hair, occasionally brushing the scar on the back of my head, and the rest of my family walking in a little clump, the conversation went like this. Our mother lectured us about how we had better behave or else we were in big trouble when we got home. Our father wrapped his arm around her waist and told her not to worry, we were good kids. Seether would occasionally talk about how he'd had a bad dream, how something bad would happen today, how he knew something would go wrong. Seely told him to stop scaring Seysley. I walked with a smile and a skip in my step, as I always did.

When we got to the town square, I pulled my sister off of my shoulders, setting her more than six feet down, on the ground, and soon enough she was pulled up onto the back of our father, which I guess must have seemed like there was no change to her because my father and I were nearly identical save for the crows feet forming around his eyes and the grey hairs wisping through the light golden-brown.

My mother was the first to hug me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders a head above her, a sweet, worried smile on her face. "We'll see you after, alright?" I'd noticed over the years that my mother was too afraid to say the word. Reapings. Like if she said it, it was an inevitable that my name would be picked out of the glass bowl, or that one of my siblings' would be in a few year's time. When she pulled back, her hands went to my face, smiling up at me with pearly white teeth and dulling blue eyes. "And maybe I'll let you help me make your cake, yeah?"

My birthday was in two days, and I would be turning eighteen. The way my mom spoke, though, it sounded as if she were scared that I wouldn't be able to come home to make that cake. I knew Seether worried her, sometimes, with the things he said. And for good reason, because he once said the same things about "knowing something would go wrong" the night that we found our dog dead near the forest.

My name was, admittedly, in that bowl a little more than I'd like to admit. Not only for the six necessary years of having one added since I was twelve, but for the tesserae. I was, after all, the only eligible one in my family, and while we weren't _poor_, we weren't that wealthy and we also had a family of six. I wasn't too worried. It had never happened before and my stakes were only two slips higher this year than last.

I hugged all my little siblings and told them all that I'd convince Mom to give them two cookies each, including Seysley, and then my father clapped me on the shoulder, said, "I'll see you soon, son." And that was all.

In line to check in, I stood behind a girl with bright orange curls, who I didn't speak to but I noticed that she looked like she'd been crying. Not that I judged or payed it too much mind, a lot of people cried on Reaping day, and for good reason. I recognized her from school, and around the district in general, but she wasn't in my class, and I was pretty sure that she was some years younger than me. After pressing her bloodied finger to the paper, she stalked off to group up with some other girls and she was completely lost from my thoughts.

I joined the other seventeen year old boys - ahem, _young gentlemen,_ as the Escort would go on to call us - and searched the crowd for my best friend, Beket, until we met up at the front of the group, near the sidelines. He greeted me with the, "How's that scar doin', Flores?" that he always did. He had caused the scar, on accident, when we were eleven and he'd sliced the back of my head open with a hatchet, which resulted in some nasty stitches and a broken arm from falling out of a tree. He had not once missed an opportunity to greet me with, "How's that scar doin', Flores?" It was a little over half an hour, probably, until we were all herded into our designated crowds, Beket and I spending the entire time chatting about our families and girls and whatever else _young gentlemen _talk about.

I was interrupted by the sound of something clearing her throat into the microphone. "Hello, District Seven! It's a pleasure to see so many young gentlemen and ladies out here." Her voice was very enthusiastic and cheery, and I glanced around at the other faces around me, some much more somber than mine, and others much more careless.

We watched the Capitol's film, my fingers impatiently tapping against my leg as my mind wandered - to what flavor the cake was going to be, if my siblings would eat all the cake in the dead of night soon as we made it, all the things that I found more important than a Reaping, my family. Finally, it was over and at least a minute passed before the Escort was speaking again, her face looking like it was going to crack behind the porcelain white makeup that was coated over her face and hands, her fingernails painted a bright orange to go along with her eyelashes, eye shadow, and darker brown lipstick. Her hair was bright orange but it didn't look natural like the girl I'd seen earlier.

My mind wandered again and I glanced around towards the younger girls to see if I could spot her, wondering how she was taking all of this. Not that I was obsessed with knowing or that I'd ever approach her afterward, but I was curious. She'd looked upset and maybe a little agitated earlier, I wanted to know if she was feeling any better - probably not. I caught a peek of her looking over some taller girl just as Beket elbowed me in the side to pay attention and my eyes went back to the stage, the Escort having already returned to the microphone with a slip of paper in her hands.

Well shit, I figured I should start paying attention at this point.

A smile permanently plastered on her face, I could see a little green something in her teeth but I didn't have the nerve to smile at a time like this. This was serious, this was a moment where some poor District Seven girl was going to be chosen for the Hunger Games. Death. I didn't even _want _to smile at a time like this.

"Arden. Villa," she spoke, her words carefully enunciated.

In the direction of where the parents stood and watched, I heard a muffled cry of, "Oh God." My stomach twisted at the sound and, like everyone else, I searched for this "Arden Villa" without moving. If felt like if I moved, someone would mistake me for whoever was called and push me out to the stage. I'd always felt this way. Even if the name called was a girl and clearly _not _me.

When Arden Villa appeared, I was surprised at two things. One, that she was the curly haired red-head that I'd seen not long ago, now looking more put together. However, that appearance may have been because of the second things I noticed - she walked up to that stage as if she owned it, an air of confidence and flirtiness to her as she subtly smoothed down her dress.

Now I recognized her. She was the district flirt, the girl who every boy knew because every boy had talked to her and she'd played with all of their hearts. At least, boys around her age. A few older ones, but not me. Still, I knew who she was. Especially because Beket, closer to sixteen than eighteen, had kissed her at least twice and had talked for days about how good she was at it.

When she turned to face the rest of the crowd, she was even smiling but I could see it falter just a little when she glanced in the direction of the crying I'd heard earlier. My stomach twisted again. Everyone knew that that smile couldn't be coming easily to her, the twelve year olds and the eighteen year olds alike knew that she wasn't happy to be up there and that smile was masking something much worse. Fear, anxiety, depression. Those are all what I was feeling and I hadn't even been called - she had.

"And what a _lovely_ young lady we have representing us -" _Us. _This Escort was not one of us, I couldn't help but think. A stark white hand went to rest on Arden's shoulder and it was then that I noticed she was shaking slightly, her smile looking easy but her eyes appeared to be screaming. "We thank you for your... ahem, _selflessness,_ Arden." I saw her swallow the word 'sacrifice' before it could come out.

"Now!" I felt my heart speed up and began to hear the blood rushing in my ears when she pulled her hand away and stepped closer to the microphone, no doubt staining the black in rusty brown. "For the gentlemen."

The anxiety always set in at this moment. I would come into the Reapings feeling assured and anything but concerned, but as soon as the Escort strutted towards the glass bowl filled nearly to the brim with boys' names. I didn't realize I was holding my breath until Beket patted me on the back.

"It's gonna be fine, Bazaar," he whispered, but the fact that he looked just as worried didn't exactly settle me. Honestly, I wasn't even that worried about myself. I didn't think I was going to be reaped, I never did. But what if Beket got called? What if some young kid did?

Everything stopped around me when she reached the microphone, a heavy silence crashing down around me that only intensified when a name was spoken, consonants crisp and clear, vowels exaggerated. "Bazaar Tane-Flores." The loudest silence I'd ever experienced roared in my ears, the same intensity as glass shattering everywhere and it made my ears ring, the silence that washed over me.

I quickly turned to look at Beket who looked almost afraid to touch me, like he would catch the Reaped status. He wasn't looking at me, wasn't touching me. His eyes were on the ground looking like a kicked puppy and my stomach knotted once more. Without even thinking about me, my mind flooded with my usual optimism. _Well, you can win! You'll be fine! You'll be home soon! You'll live to see your family as an eighteen year old! Nothing to worry about!_ I felt myself relax, a smile sliding onto my face. It didn't come as easily as Arden's, and I must not have looked as casual as I made my way up to the stage, but there was a smile and I felt assured that I would be okay.

Just like I'd been assured that I wouldn't be Reaped.

The Escort was shorter closer up and she was hardly taller than Arden, who stood a good eight or so inches below myself. I stood out like a sore thumb up there, licking my lips a little nervously. Blood rushing through my veins roared in my ears, and I didn't realize I was supposed to be shaking my partner's hand until I felt almost everyone's eyes on me. Embarrassed, I quickly turned and grabbed her delicate hand firmly to shake.

_**Tessa Von**_

Vinny took _forever_ to wake up.

I'd been standing over his bed for thirty-three minutes before he woke up, starting a little when he saw me but relaxing into the bed soon enough, that beautiful smile melting onto his face as he tossed an arm over his eyes.

"Jesus, Tess, you scared me," he laughed, sitting up slowly in bed as I stood up. Smiling brightly, I watched as he shook out his beautiful blond hair and looked up at me with his beautiful brown eyes and his muscles shifted and his joints locked into place as he woke up and moved. He was gorgeous. He, of course, didn't think of me as anything more than a friend - maybe a sister, but I knew that, with time, that would change. I could make him see things my way with persistence.

"Sorry! But you just wouldn't wake up when I shook you -" Or climbed in bed beside you for a good ten minutes. "So I just decided to wait instead. C'mon, you're going to be late if you don't get up soon."

I didn't leave the room but apparently he expected me to because he didn't move the blanket away, and scoffed out a small laugh as he looked over at me. "How 'bout you step out and I'll get dressed?" A little look of disappointment crossing my face - something he must have taken as a joke because he laughed and said, "Sorry but not this time, Tess." - I turned my back to him and stepped out of the room. Once the door was shut behind me, I unraveled my fist to look at the little piece of Vinny's shirt I had snagged. I had some things that I'd taken from him over the years stored away in my room, this was just something else to add to the collection.

He stepped out in a button-down and brown pants with suspenders to match. I knew plenty of other people would be wearing brown but it made me feel like he was trying to match me, with my short brown dress with the one-inch straps that were a little loose over my shoulder blades. Laughing, he turned me around and put a strong hand on my shoulder, arm wrapped around me, and I could only hope that his scent would stay on my skin and in my auburn hair, or that mine would rub off on him.

"You had breakfast yet?" he questioned and I was quick to nod.

"Your mom insisted on stuffing me full before I came up to your room." Vinny's mom was just as scared of me as everyone else in the district, I was nearly sure, but she was friendly enough when I came by and at least acted warm and kind towards me. She treated me like a daughter, I thought, and the idea that I may one day be her daughter-in-law excited me. It wasn't just an idea, either. I _was_ going to be her daughter-in-law some day. Whether she liked it or not, I would bear her grandchildren and I would marry Vinny and she would have to put up with having "that crazy girl" as family.

He laughed that beautiful laugh and nodded, guiding me into that kitchen. "Sounds like her. Did she leave already?" He started scooping some of the pre-prepared oatmeal into a bowl, sprinkling raisins and brown sugar over it.

"Yeah, she left with Marc." Marc was Vinny's dad, a peacekeeper for the district. Vinny's parents were as close as two people could be, and his mother was always following Marc around like a lost puppy. We were very similar, really. We both looked at a Crat man like we were head over heels, which I was and I would easily prove that I was more in love with Vinny than she was with Marc if it weren't a risk to our close bond. I was working on the making-him-fall-in-love-with-me part still. It would happen.

We chatted while he ate. Mostly it was him talking and my staring at him, completely engaged in every word he said but more engaged in the way his lips formed syllables. Once he was done, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders again and lead me out of the house, towards the Reapings. I saw people looking at me - they always did. I knew people judged me because I preferred to spend time with Vinny than with my father on Reaping Day, but they never said anything. Mostly, it was just dirty looks. Those were also because everyone was positive that I was crazy. I mean, you stab a teacher _once_ and suddenly you're the scum of the district.

I had tucked the piece of his shirt into the tight belt that knotted at my lower back, the cloth neatly folded and the belt tied a little tighter than comfortable just to be sure that it didn't slide out. When we reached the Center, we pulled away from one another so that he could smile down at me and me up at him. "I'll meet up with you after?" I asked hopefully, knowing that he would say yes but feeling the need to ask anyway. Just to ask him say yes, really.

"Of course." He leaned down to kiss my cheek and my heart fluttered. Something told me to just grab him and _kiss __him already_, kill him if he didn't cooperate, but I pushed it away, smiling sweetly instead. "Don't let anybody get to you, okay? You're great." He tousled my hair playfully but was quick to run his fingers through it and smooth it down. My stomach filled with butterflies but my face remained unchanging.

"Thanks, Vinny." He kissed me once more, on the knuckles this time, before we parted ways. He to stand with his friends - he was nineteen and no longer had to participate in the actual Reapings - and I went to check in and worm my way in through the girls who looked disgusted just at the sight of me.

Not that I cared. I had Vinny. No matter what.

**_Twill Becker_**

Honestly, I didn't even see why I had to go to this stupid thing.

I was from a well-off family, I didn't take tesserae, I was only in that bowl six times. My name wasn't going to be pulled and I wasn't going to go into the Games, and it was unbelievable that even after next year, when I would turn eighteen, I would _still _have to come to this stupid thing. If anything, they should make an explicit rule that _Twill Becker does not have to attend the Reapings because what's the fucking point._ There were better things I could have been doing than standing around with a bunch of idiots like cattle, listening to some deep, low voice speak into a microphone about how glad he was to be in District Eight. Which I knew he wasn't, _no one _would be.

I could be making out with Rheya, I could be hanging out with Gillard, I could be fucking around with Blanca's shit. But no, I was stuck at this stupid Reaping.

Impatiently, my arms were crossed over my chest, barely listening as Gillard just kept _whispering _in my ear about something I honest to God didn't care about. Gillard was a great guy, we were best friends, but he never shut up. I glanced across the aisle between the boys' side of the Town Square and the girls', spotting Rheya as she grinned and waved at me. Smirking a little, I waved back.

The man on the stage, who's name was something like Lionel or Leon or Larry, I don't know, watched the film with rapt interest. For someone who was just so... large and intimidating looking, he acted very effeminate and excited, watching with bated breath as the President droned and flashes of the districts scrolled over the large screen. When it finally stopped, he brought his purple-shadowed eyes back to us, shiny blue suit looking stiff and unnatural on his body. Like he was wearing spray-painted cardboard or something.

"Now for the fun part," he said with a gesture of his hands, fingers spreading out and hands forming an imaginary arch before steepling together. Fun? Pfft. Nothing about this was fun, I was bored out of my mind. His shoes made soft thuds on the stage as he walked, and he looked like he must have been at least seven feet tall so I was surprised that he didn't make more noise. He walked to the ball containing girls' names, and I briefly hoped that Rheya wasn't picked. That'd suck. I mean, there are always more fish in the sea - some that I'd had my eye on for awhile - but it'd still kind of suck.

He reached deep into the bowl, picking out a name from the very bottom and I watched disinterestedly through the glass as he pulled it out between two fingers. Upon returning, he looked giddy to open up the slip and send some girl to her death. That was a pretty shitty attitude to have about it, if you asked me. This happened every year so it didn't matter much to be particularly _sad_ about it, but acting so excited was pretty rude.

When he called out the name, I would say that it was less than dramatic. Maybe it was my own apathy for the situation, but no one seemed to hold their breath or break down in tears.

"Tessa Von."

Oh shit.

Once I'd processed the name, I realized why no one really gave a shit. No one liked her. No one except for that one boy who always seemed to be hanging around her like she was his property and she needed to be protected. Tessa Von was absolutely batshit. Everyone knew her and no one wanted to be around her - except for the aforementioned guy. Vinny, I think - because she'd chased a teacher down and nearly killed him with a pair of scissors. Anyone who looked at her could tell that she was unhealthily obsessed with Vinny and didn't give a shit about her dad. I'd heard that she killed her mom when she was just five years old.

Tessa did not seem to have much of a problem with walking out. Looking at her, her scared, victim look was pretty see-through, at least to me. She looked frightened, and worried, looking around for Vinny. I knew it was Vinny because who else would she be looking for? Lionel/Leon/Larry extended a hand towards her, smiling.

"Come on, dear."

Her face slowly slid into a shaky, scared smile that made her look like an innocent lamb about to be slaughtered. At least, that's what it probably looked like to everyone else. To me, she looked like some crazy bitch trying to score points by acting scared and innocent.

The Escort shook her hand as soon as she reached him, and she looked so puny compared to him. She was pretty short anyway but damn. Her hands shook by her side and for a second, I _swear_ we locked eyes, but I was looking away within seconds. I didn't want to look at her, that meant that we had a connection. That meant that she would, at some point, think of that boy she locked eyes with in the crowd, and probably her next victim. I would rather Tessa Von just go and die without needing to kill me first.

A few seconds passed before the Escort was wordlessly walking towards the bowl on the other side of the stage. He smiled out at us - or rather, at a camera, probably - as he pulled a name from the center of the bowl, more towards the right. The slip wasn't all that big so I figured I could cross out anyone like Galloway Jackson Varbrun-Zeramuski. That was all his first and last name, no joke. I don't know what his parents were thinking.

A long pause, a shaking Tessa Von, a smiling Lionel/Leon/Larry and then,

"Twill Becker."

_Oh, _fuck _me._

That was honestly my first thought. I didn't even think much about the potential death I was walking to, I just thought about how stupid this was and are you kidding me and I'll see you soon, Rheya. Maybe, on the inside, everything was crashing around me and my coping method was to feel almost nothing about it, but I felt fine. I didn't feel worried. I felt casual and my hands went to my pockets as I stepped out of line to walk up to the stage, winking at Rheya when I passed her.

What the fuck was wrong with me? Nothing. I just wasn't a pussy and I wasn't worried about these Games. I would come out fine, I meant too much to the world not to. When everything revolved around me, how would anything continue if I was dead?

The only thing I was really worried about was sharing a space with Tessa Von for the next couple of days.

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><p><strong>AN:**

**I have honestly no excuse for taking this long to update sorry! Especially considering that this chapter isn't very good, sorry about that :P. Honestly, I think I'd be a little more inspired to write, however, if I got a couple more reviews. I put as much as I can into making your characters accurate and keeping these updates decent, and it would be really appreciated if you would review, even if your character hasn't showed up yet. Sorry if it sounds like I'm nagging, it just kind of sucks that some of you seemed to have just submitted and then never reviewed. (If you are a consistent reviewer, and you know who you are if you are, then thank you very much!)**

**As always, I need just a few more characters and these characters from today have been added to the website which you can find on my profile. **

**We are officially over halfway through with the Reapings and then we'll be able to continue on to the fun stuff! Thanks for reading.**

**~ Lexie.**


	6. D9 & D10 Reapings

**AN: Alright! I'm going to be putting the author's note at the top from now on because I'm not really sure if anyone reads it down at the bottom. I don't this looks as neat but eh, you gotta do what you gotta do.**

**First thing's first, if you have a character in this story - oh my god, PLEASE review! I know that not everyone can review every single chapter and that's fine but if you could at least put a little effort into reviewing the story that I'm using YOUR characters for, it would be GREATLY appreciated! Also regarding your characters, since we are nearing the end of the reapings, I'm going to have another set of questions for all those that were accepted. Not very much, just a few things regarding training.**

**And lastly, we now have a full cast list! After the next chapter (the final Reaping), I will be taking the list off of my profile and everything will be on the website. Which is linked to on my profile, so it should never be all too difficult to get there.**

**Thanks.**

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><p><span><em><strong>Vernetta Innes<strong>_

Living with five brothers and one bathroom, a girl learns rather quickly how to get into the bathroom first.

I was always the first one to wake up because I slept next to the window as opposed to Abbott, who slept on the far side of the room, turned towards the wall with his sheets pulled up over his face. The orange light would creep up over my face into chocolate brown eyes would open and I would stare at the specks of dust floating around in the air before hauling myself out of bed and shuffling around to get ready for the day.

Most days, I didn't dress to impress. Overalls and a white top was enough for me because hot work out in the sun for hours and hours didn't require pretty dresses or beads. We had some of those, saved for special occasions, but every day of my life was not a special occasion. Rubbing my eyes and letting out a yawn, I shuffled down the stairs to the first floor of our home - we all slept on the second floor but the kitchen and bathroom were on the first, the third was just storage.

I adjusted my underwear over my hips and pulled my tanktop up when I looked in my mirror. Everyone always complained about me just walking around the house in my underwear and socks but it was just so damned hot with so many bodies and furniture and sunlight, what else was I supposed to do? Besides, it was early morning and there was no one to complain right then.

Mama always insisted on caking my face in whatever products she had on Reaping Day, but I could do everything else. My hair was the same everyday. I would wake up and be forced to brush the tangles out of my long dirty-blonde hair, twirl it up into a bun, and secure with... oh damn it, I forgot my hair tie. After climbing the stairs to retrieve a hairband, I returned to the bathroom mirror, stained with toothpaste that'd gone flying when we laughed, dirt smudges, and the mark left after I'd put on Mama's lipstick and kissed the cool glass when I was a little girl. After fussing and pinning until my arms were sore, I managed to keep my hair down in a tight bun. It was just routine.

After that, I dressed myself in some of the pretty dresses and beads that were kept in a trunk on the third floor, always collecting dust over the year that we didn't touch it. A brown dress with pink and orange flowers printed all over it that went to my knees. I got dressed right up there on the third floor just in case Abbott had woken up yet and was planning on kicking me out - we may have been close but he was still a dumb teenage boy who thought that brothers and sisters shouldn't dress around each other.

There was a full length mirror up there, but I did have to pull it out from behind the baby crib that hadn't been occupied since I was old enough for a real bed. Looking in it, I fixed the collar around my neck and buttoned the cuffs at my wrists. I tied some braided, black yarn around the middle and after some fixing some final scrutinizing details I decided that, yes, I looked like I would meet Mama's standards.

x x x

We ate breakfast all together, as we did every morning. We were a very close family. Even my eldest brothers, Justus and Hayden had come over, Hayden with his new wife and baby in tow. Mama insisted that we cover up in too-hot coats while we ate because we didn't want to get milk or toast or oatmeal on our Reaping clothes, would we? Pa agreed.

By 7:30, we were all ready to go and yet there was still hours left until the Reapings. We were all just so used to having to wake up early, I guessed. No one worked on Reaping Day either, so there was nothing to do but wander around the house, play marbles with Russel, Jerrott, and Abbott, and play with Hayden's baby, Myra. I may have gone out to see Ina - my best friend - and we could have stolen some cinnamon rolls from the bakery window, but Mama never let us go out on Reaping Day. She was too scared about not seeing us again, and even though he never said so, I knew that Pa would agree.

A long five and half hours ticked by and by one in the afternoon, I was feeling sticky and sweaty under my dress, strands of blonde hair were starting to spring out and hand around my round face, in front of my small nose, but just as I was going to fix it at around 11:45, Mama was banging her palm against the wall next to the door and shouting, "It's time to go! Get your little butts in here!"

With a groan, I hurried to stand in front of her, Justus on one side of me and Jerrott on the other. I bent down quickly to re-lace my boots and then quickly stood again to see her counting off the last of us. She'd always done that, for as long as I could remember, counted all five of us to make sure we were all there. Now there was a total of seven heads to count and when she was sure that we were all together, she grinned, told us to "get a move on" and we headed out.

It was blisteringly hot that day. I supposed that having the Reapings during the summer may have something to do with the fact that kids often had school and going away to fight to death might affect your school records, but District Nine was so unbelievably _hot_ during the summers. No one enjoyed being dragged to a crowded square where there was no shade. The Escort no doubt hated the heat, we were used to the heat but that didn't make it enjoyable.

Today, in particular, was unbearable. The second we stepped outside, we were met with a breeze of hot air and I got a little dust in my mouth. Another reason no one ever dressed too nicely was that in long, dark sleeves and long skirts and boots, it made one itch to tear off their clothes and run to the creek to cool down. The reason they'd run to the creek and not the river is because the river was too far and no one wanted to _run _very far at all in this heat.

Home, sweet home.

Ina lived on the way from my house to the town square, so she joined up with us along the way. Her mother chatted with mine, the new baby brother balanced on her hip and looking curiously towards Myra. Ina was the more jittery, shy and nervous of the two of us. I may have been quiet but I was rather daring, willing to do things like steal from shops here and there or climb high trees - what ones there were around, anyway - just in name of being a teenager. never really meant to, but I tended to drag her along on things like that. She never complained much.

"So you're, uh, you'll stand at the back, right?" she asked quietly, speeding up a little so that there was some distance between us and our families.

"Yeah, sure. And you stand at the front." Of our respective groups, of course. I would stand in the back of the fifteen year olds and she would be at the front of the fourteen year olds so that we could stand near one another. She had been petrified at her first Reaping, I remember. She'd made me hold her hand tight and we'd been following that routine for the past few years since then. We would stand near one another and I would hold Ina's hand.

Upon reaching the square, there was already a long line of teens waiting to get there fingers pricked, and a much fewer amount already standing in their sections. Mama told Jerrott, Abbott, and I to meet them back at the house because they sure weren't going to find us in this crowd, not in this weather. Pa hugged me and gave my brothers firm handshakes and a clap on the shoulder. Ina returned from where she'd kissed her ma on the cheek and we all went to stand in line. Abbott stood in front of me, Ina behind me, and Jerrott behind Ina.

While the girl who smelled strongly of cinnamon rolls in front of him twirled a golden lock around her finger, Abbott turned to face me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Now, you behave, Nettie, you hear me?" Another thing had happened in my earlier years of the Reapings, when I was twelve. I'd caused a big scene, crying and screaming right there on the ground before the Escort had even called a name. It hadn't been anyone I knew but I'd been so wracked with nerves that I couldn't help myself. I don't think anyone ever forgot. I knew Abbott hadn't.

"Hush," I shoved his shoulder playfully, crossing my tanned arms afterward. "That wasn't even _my _fault." I had been twelve, it wasn't like I could control my emotions that well. Neither could anyone else. The Hunger Games were a very new thing and no one really knew how to handle it. Mama had been crying for weeks, what else was I supposed to do? "And I think that I could say the same thing to you, _Abbott_." The Games were even newer when he was twelve and he'd refused to even let go of Mama when he had to get his finger pricked.

A moment of silence passed between us, chocolate-y eyes staring back at each other hard before his face slipped into a grin; my own remained the same. He patted me on the shoulder.

"You're a feisty one when you wanna be, sis." At that, he turned, twisting his belt so that the buckle was centered again and his grey suspenders were tight over his shoulders.

**_Valmir Septim_**

At the Reaping, I was sporting my usual frown.

I was one of the last people there. Not that I was busy or put any extra effort into looking nice. I just didn't care enough to wake up until 11:45, change into the pair of scuffy grey pants, old leather shoes, and my father's old, worn out suit jacket that I had worn for every Reaping since I could fit into them, and go on my merry way to the center of town.

There weren't many people who left this late but that didn't mean that there weren't still a few people strolling down the way - most of them were hurrying. But I couldn't care less. If a Peacekeeper wanted to kill me for showing up two minutes late? So be it.

My parents had long ago left, knowing better than to try and get me up on Reaping Day. It wasn't that I was some kind of psycho, I wasn't looking to murder my parents or anything, it's just that this day was... tough for me. Every day was tough for me but my parents acted like this was the only day out of the year where I suffered. It was definitely the _worst_ day, but not the only one.

I hardly register as they prick my finger for blood and I ignore those who turn to look at me walking through the nearly empty aisle, stop at the seventeen year old boys, and manage to worm my inside the crowd. Apparently, seventeen years ago was a good year for boys to be born because I've always been standing in a pen with these guys and there's always so _many_.

For awhile, I was quiet, tuning out the voice of the Escort who was a creamy pink color with bright pink hair, dress, shoes, and nails to match. My mind began to wonder. Four years ago, we'd had a volunteer. She placed twenty-fourth, the first to die in the bloodbath. One year ago, Antoinette had been called. She placed eleventh. She died, so did my world. Resentful thoughts swam through my head and I uncomfortably began to shift, feeling like everything was closing in on me, arms going to cross protectively across myself.

Somewhere along the line, I began to mutter as well and I knew that the guys next to me were weirded out. This was nothing new. I didn't care.

I could care less when the Escort took a name from the bowl and swayed back to the microphone to speak out the name with a grin. I didn't hear the name the first time, but I snapped into alertness at the stillness that followed. A beat was missed but then I heard some woman _screaming_, and I knew it couldn't be whoever the girl was because it came from where the parents stood. Some woman was _screaming_ and as soon as that happened, a guy almost directly behind me followed, shouting the name, "Nettie! Vernetta!"

I nearly jumped out of my fucking skin and quickly whipped around to tell this guy with his stupid ass grey suspenders to pipe down but I knew that he wouldn't be paying any attention to me anyway.

Instead, I tried to see past the ocean of tall, broad-shouldered, muscular farmhand boys that blocked my view. I didn't get to see this Vernetta girl until she got to the stage. Instantly, I didn't like her. I didn't like anyone in my district but I felt a particular hatred just at _seeing_ her. She was older than twelve, anyone could see that. She could have volunteered for Antoinette the year before. She hadn't.

I could see her hands shaking, could see tears in her eyes, could see the way she looked as if she were about to faint but was trying her best not to. She was practically _mocking_ Antoinette now. She had collapsed when she was reaped and now this Vernetta was just standing there like a deer in the headlights, probably perfectly aware of what she was doing. Ugh.

I dropped my eyes back to the ground, hearing my heart beating loudly and I felt my fingers twitch with anxiety. The males, I didn't hate as much as the females because they _couldn't_ volunteer for Antoinette, but I still wouldn't care about whoever was called. Unless it was me. I'd always been scared about being Reaped, and I'd only ever told Antoinette and then she'd died, it was bottled up and I was ready to burst.

Bright magenta lips smiled into the black microphone, the slip of paper held down near her waist. She opened it, read it, closed it, and then looked back at all of us.

"Valmir Septim?"

I felt like I could puke. My whole world crashed and my first thought was Antoinette. She would want me to be strong, right? She told me to keep on living for her goddamn it, I would do just that. Everyone around me knew who I was and they didn't seem all too upset to make a path for me to slip through, out of the crowd, into everyone's sight. My face did not change and I still gripped onto my bony elbows as I walked out.

I looked to the Escort, then to Vernetta, as I walked up to the stage, my eyes never leaving them. I could still hear Vernetta's - presumably - mother weeping and I wondered my mom wasn't doing that. I took slow, heavy steps up the stairs onto the wooden, rickety stage that really wasn't too high off the ground. Not as high as any of the other districts' anyway.

Again, I tuned out the Escort as she began to speak about "our lovely tributes" or something like that, something out the Hunger Games, blah blah blah. My eyes didn't leave Vernetta's. I hated her. But if I was going to survive, I may as well take the help I could get so I didn't sneer at her. Just looked, stared, and she stared back.

I barely registered being told to shake her hand and when I was, I looked back to the ground, tensing up.

I may need her help in the beginning, but I wasn't going to befriend the girl I would kill.

_**Valora Zenner**_

I scanned the crowd for my father.

I had stood closer to the outside of the group of girls to try and see if my father had shown up yet. I knew that he'd be in big trouble if he didn't show up and he'd narrowly avoided it several times before. I hadn't seen him in the past two days but I knew where he was. He was with his friends. Drinking and saying nasty things about me and Hex, my older brother. This morning he would have been placing bets with his buddies about who was going to be Reaped. Just the idea made me sick.

That morning, I had complained about feeling sick to see if I could get out of doing chores. Of course, it hadn't worked and Hex had lectured me about wanting to lose the farm. Of _course _I didn't want to lose the farm, I just didn't want to do chores every morning! I was a fifteen year old girl and honestly, what fifteen year old girl wanted to clean up cow shit and collect chicken eggs at the crack of dawn?

I wasn't angry at Hex, though. I'd gotten over that soon enough. He'd rewarded me with bacon and pancakes, a nice breakfast that was so rare. Usually we ate watery, left-over mush or scavenged for anything father may have brought him drunk with him the night before. If he had come home at all.

There was still a good twenty minutes left until the Reaping started and I was already sick of being out there. With a resigned sigh, I dropped to sit on the ground, no doubt getting dust on the back of my _new_ blue dress, the color of the sky probably turning into the color of a blue hard candy after you drop it into the dirt. In seconds, Cass was plopping down beside me, turning her dress from the color of bitterweed to the color of a caramel candy. After dropping it into the dirt, of course.

"You're ruining your dress," she told me, a grin smiling onto her face as if she'd said something funny and I couldn't help but laugh. Cass' happiness was contagious. I reached over to slap her arm and she was quick to slap mine back. Should we have been having fun and joking around in such a solemn time like this?

December Winters' face above us said otherwise, staring down at us like we were personally offending her.

But hey, the sun was shining, the breeze was blowing. It didn't feel like a dark day, as it usually did. It felt very nice and refreshing and I didn't feel the need to worry. So for the next twenty minutes, Cass and I joked around, noticing every pair of us that turned to look at us but not really caring. That was, until December was nudging me with the toe of her shoes and hissing, "Get _up,_ it's starting." She didn't sound very harsh or mean when she said it, just like she was worried for our wellbeing if we didn't start behaving.

I held onto Cass' hand as we stood and continued to hold it after we were standing. If she noticed, she didn't say anything about it.

Our Escort this year was an average sized woman who seemed to be of average height with an average face and was trying to hard to not seem average. She was wearing orange. Alongside her peachy skin and orange-flushed cheeks, she had big, orange hair and long, orange, feathery eyelashes. Her outfit was a mix of oranges and browns but overall, she looked very _orange_, a very abstract color for such a plain looking woman._  
><em>

"Hello, District Ten! A rather hot one today, isn't it?" I'm pretty sure that that was her try for a joke and I would have smiled but I suddenly wasn't feeling very funny. My eyes went to the glass bowl full of girls' names and I felt my stomach drop. How many times was my name in there? Hex's was definitely in more than mine but... my name was definitely present more than the necessary four times.

When the Escort turned on the movie, I searched for my dad again. Sure enough, he was standing there with his friends, whispering to one another quietly and looking drunk. For a split second, I swore that we locked eyes - his blue eyes against mine, the only thing we really shared - but he moved on instantly, pointing to the Reaping Bowl and his friend nodded.

I looked away as well, stepping slightly closer to Cass, and bringing my eyes back to the Escort. She was quick to continue speaking after the movie had finished, hardly missing a second before her brown-orange lips were moving.

"Oh, don't you love that film? I know _I_ do. Now, I'm sure you're all very eager to find out who will be representing District Ten in this years annual Hunger Games!" I could tell that she wasn't speaking to us. She was talking to the Capitol. She seemed bright and cheery but there was detachment. She wasn't looking at any of us.

"Now, I've heard that District Ten just has the most chivalrous gentlemen so I think you'd agree with _ladies_ first, yes?" She smiled and there was a raspy cough coming from the crowd seconds later. That was Lilac Marshyll, and she was terribly sick. Half of the district hoped she was Reaped so that her parents could stop having to support her, claiming that _she would die any day now._ The other half figured that if she just got a little more treatment, she'd be fine, but she wouldn't last a day in the Games. I was the latter.

However, if it came down between myself and Lilac, I would hope she went in.

For the first time in forever, I was seeing an Escort in flats as opposed to heels. She was silent as she walked over, plucked the first name off the top of the bowl, and walked back, a smile on her face the whole time. I saw her looking into a camera. She looked at the paper for no more than a fraction of a second before she was speaking once more. She spoke a lot. "Valora Zenner!"

I heard Cass gasp next to me but my eyes immediately went to my father. I wondered if he had won with his bet. Everything seemed to speed up - my heart, my breathing, everything. I looked to Cass, eyes wide, and her hand fell from mine. A tense moment of silence fell and I glanced to the large screen where I could see cameras panning over the girls.

Her hand fell from mine. "I'm sorry, Val," she whispered.

_**Snow Winters**_

I watched the screen instead of the crowd because it was pointless trying to see past anybody. I was practically smack in the middle of the group and rather far in the back, it wasn't particularly easy to see the screen either but I figured it was easier.

In District Ten, everybody knew everybody. At least, that's how it was for most of everyone. I knew the name Valora Zenner, especially because she was in my older sister's grade. I wasn't exactly friends with her but I had chatted with her once at a dinner party that my parents were holding. I knew that Kole Zenner was a drunk - who didn't? I felt bad that she was being called up but at least it wasn't December.

I knew that Hex would be thinking that same thing if December had been Reaped instead of Val.

I watched the screen and the camera finally centered on the blonde as she stepped out past a Peacekeeper. Even on the screen, I could see her shaking and when she turned to face the crowds, I looked at her instead of the screen and watched as she burst into tears, right there on stage. My heart clenched and I really did feel sorry for her. Poor girl. She'd barely even had anything when she lived here, and now she was being sent to her death.

Because honestly, who thought she would live?

The Escort, who was previously very bright and cheery looked unsure what to do with this weeping child on her stage. It had been easy for her when she could just smile into a camera and put on a show for the Capitol, pretend she cared. Now she actually had to _show_ that she cared. She awkwardly patted her back, and Val immediately dropped to her knees, sobbing into her hands.

For a moment, she seemed to mentally debate whether or not to touch her again and ultimately just walked to the microphone. "Our brave female tribute, Val Zenner!" For a second, I thought Val might get up and punch this woman in the face for calling her that. _Everyone _called her that but I felt like if some stranger who was taking me to my death called me by a nickname, I'd want to punch her.

Tense, awkward silence filled the space, mostly from the Escort, until she finally cleared her throat and continued. "Now the boys, yeah?" She smiled, but it seemed forced. At least, much more forced than it had before. She stepped over to the bowl on the opposite side of the stage, plucked a name from the very _bottom _of the bowl as if doing the opposite of what she had done last time would result in her not getting another sobbing wreck on stage with her._  
><em>

She briskly walked back, unfolded the paper, and spoke the name almost so quickly that I missed it. My focus was on Val. However, I _did _catch the name, and froze at it. My blood ran cold, I felt pinpricks all over. Snow Winters. My stomach lurched as I took a step forward. I tried to look confident but a quick look at the screen told me that I looked shocked.

My mouth was a little open and so I shut it quickly. I stood up straight, I pulled on my black brown jacket a little. Putting my head up high, I looked at the screen again. Better. I silently walked to the stage, glancing towards December when I passed her. I may have been mistaken but I thought that I saw tears in her eyes.

I didn't even try to shake Val's hand and the Escort didn't try and prompt me. She simply set a hand of long fingers on my shoulder and smiled widely, directly at a camera.

"Let's have a big round of applause for our two District Ten tributes in the Fourteenth Annual Hunger Games!"


	7. D11 & D12 Reapings

**Hello! To start off, I want to say that finals are starting tomorrow. And nearly as soon as I'm finished with school, I start theater. That goes on for about a month. I'm not sure what the update schedule will be until all that is finished but I can promise you that I'm not abandoning this story, and if I WERE to do that, I would definitely let you all know. **

**Now! Last Reaping chapters and then we get onto the Capitol train (bc screw goodbyes). There's more notes at the bottom.**

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><p><span><em><strong>Oceania Emeli<strong>_

By the time I was awoken by the bright sunlight streaming through the window directly into my eyes, everyone else is already awake. I could hear twins in the other room over where Grandma slept as well as where we cooked and ate meals. Eli and Damien shared a room with me, and how I always managed to sleep through their rambunctiousness. I rolled out of bed and rubbed my tired, hazel eyes. The sun was already out and high above our heads and I wondered what time it was.

I supposed that I wouldn't know until the bells rang from the Justice Building and I could count off the tolls. The Reaping wasn't until later in the afternoon so I took my sweet time getting ready. I slipped out of the house via the side door, and went to wash myself off before anything else. The water was cold as ice but I was grateful to watch the grime and sweat from days of work slide off of my face and body and into the basin. Once clean, I reversed the whole process and wiped myself in a, no doubt dirty, rag.

I slid back in through the side door and got dressed in the outfit Grandma had picked out for me. She was very picky with what I wore and how I looked, so I had to dress to her liking, especially on Reaping Day. I did not worry about Reapings anymore.

As I tucked the sky blue blouse into the brown skirt, I did not worry that my brothers would be Reaped, or that I would either. Eli and Damien were still a year too young to even be eligible, and - though my name was scattered in the Reaping bowl countless times, somewhere in the forties, I think - I was eighteen years old. If I could go this long without being Reaped, why would it happen this year? The idea wasn't completely void from my mind. It still lingered there, taunting me and making my chest feel heavy like someone dropped a piano on it.

Once I was dressed, I combed my fingers through my hair and braided the dark locks behind me. There, nice and neat. Grandma would probably approve.

I was wrong. I was immediately told to sit down and let her redo my hair into a bun on top of my head, a few loose strands falling around my face. Grandma said that I was a woman now and I needed to look like one. I didn't need to look like some kind of child with pigtails. I must look feminine and lady-like. Apparently hair could make that much of a difference.

My brother's were nowhere to be seen until the sound of the door slamming open cracked through the air, and was met with an immediate, "I told you two to stop slammin' that door! Do you want to go without it again? If you break it, that's what's goin' to happen so you'd better stop!"

And was responded with a nearly immediate, shameful, "Sorry Grandma..."

Grandma wasn't strict about what we could and couldn't do on Reaping Day. All she ever said was that we had better come back an hour before the Reapings start and if we're a minute late, she'd whoop us. She never meant it but I never risked finding out. Every year, I did the same thing; hopped ship to spend what little part of the day we had left with Fiera and Dakota - a set of sisters who had been my friends since I was a little girl.

"Bye, Grandma," I said, speaking up a little because she was getting old and I figured that, to her, anyone that spoke to her sounded like they were miles away. I kissed her on the wrinkled cheek, gave her a quick hug, and turned away to pat Eli and Damien on the heads before I left. I carefully shut the door behind me, and then I was off.

The Peacekeepers in Eleven made me nervous - I could do something wrong without even knowing it, and I may be shot for it - so I tried to stay away from them. There were extra on Reaping Days, though, and it wasn't exactly easy to just walk around unseen by their watchful eyes.

A few years back, when I was much younger and right around the time the Hunger Games had just begun, there had been a riot by some resistance group during the Reapings. Apparently, they had been holding underground meetings for ever, probably, because they didn't like how oppressive the Capitol was. The Hunger Games were what really set them off. A few men and women survived, I think, but most of them were executed and even a few innocents in the crowd were killed. I think it was something like thirty people died overall. It didn't put a dent in our population.

That was why there were always so many around and it made me nervous. I always felt like I looked suspicious and when someone so much as moved, I felt the urge to run at top speed. I kept on through the District calmly, with my head held high, until I reached Fiera and Dakota's house nearby. They weren't allowed to leave their house during on Reaping Day, but I didn't mind the walk.

I attempted to wipe some of the dust off my shoes before entering but it wasn't easy and I trailed some inside their house feeling bad. I glanced back at the footprints only once before continuing into the kitchen where I was met with their family, welcoming smiles on their faces. They must have heard me come in.

"Hello, Nia!" came the voice of their mother.

And I heard the bells toll three outside.

**_Milo Knox_**

"Now, if you get into any trouble today, I'm going to personally make sure you never leave this house again except for the Reapings, young man."

That my mother. She was a whole head shorter than me, but she still acted like she could beat me up if she wanted to. Which I'm sure she did sometimes. She fervently fiddled with the collar of my shirt, doing her best to make it stay down, and I silently let her. I'd already been lectured, like I was every year, for the scars across my back and the new bruises on my knuckles.

_"Have you been getting into fights again, Milo?" _She would tut.

Every year I would say no, she would give me a look, and I would tell her that they deserved it. Whoever the unlucky bastard was, they had started the fight. Whoever was stupid enough to say something stupid, had messed up my shoulder so it wasn't like I was the only one at fault. That's pretty much how it always went. The scars were always there, and she always acted as if they were new. Some of them always were.

Damn Peacekeepers will do anything to a teenager who eats a few of the crops. I was just lucky that they didn't care enough to remember faces in District Eleven or else I would probably be killed for all the times I got whipped instead.

I was nothing if not tolerant to a little pain.

I stood up for what I believed in and I didn't take any of the Capitol's shit. It wasn't an easy job, you would think that I would have been rewarded for my persistence by now._  
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She finally fixed my shirt and then moved on to look over my suspenders while I absently twisted the ring on my finger. Ever observant, she took notice and grabbed my hand to take a look.

A pause, a sigh, and a sad look up at me through dark brown eyes. Hers were nothing like mine. I had my father's, bright and amber eyes - the most impressive ones in my district, I'd been told. "You shouldn't be wearing this in public," she told me, sounding sorry, but she made no move to take it off of me. "Not with all these Peacekeepers around, they might recognize it."

I returned the silence briefly before pulling my hand away, leaving her soft, warm hold, and stepping into my own isolated space, creating distance between us. "They don't care enough to memorize faces," I started, looking away at the opposite wall, just to take my eyes off of her. I knew my mother cared, and she was doing the best she could. She was trying to keep me safe. She didn't understand how important this all was to me. "Let alone a stupid ring." Plus it was my father's ring. Either it stayed on, or my whole hand went with it.

The silence that followed what I said was not uncomfortable but far from easy. It was unsure, mostly from her side. I could hear the gears turning in her mind, thinking of how she could convince me. She didn't want her precious baby boy that way her husband had turned out - dead. Unfortunately, it was a little late for that. I stole crops, I brought them home so we didn't have to starve, I believed in a future beyond what we had right then. I had long since turned out like my father.

"Milo..." she sighed, taking away the space between us again so that she could raise a small, strong hand to my face and cup my cheek. "Please just be careful."

More silence.

I could hear Aunt Maizy's breathing the next room over. She was probably listening to us. Aunt Maizy was a meddlesome gossip, and a horrible one at that. She needed to get in everything and everyone's business, especially mine. _Especially _mine and my mother's.

I moved away again, heading to the door and that was when Aunt Maizy came scurrying out in her nice clothes, putting a hand on her sister - my mother's - back and guiding her towards the door as well. "I'll be fine," I muttered to her as we walked out.

x x x

The woman who took my blood did look at my ring and I saw her stop for a moment as she looked. It didn't last long before I cleared my throat to remind her that she had a job and she had better continue on with the hundreds of other kids waiting to check in. She scanned my blood with her fancy Capitol technology and then sent me off. I didn't have any siblings to part with or any friends my age so I walked silently to the crowded area of sixteen year old boys. Everyone I knew was years older than me, most of them adults, and the youngest were eighteen.

That's not to say that I wasn't liked - though I wasn't by some, mostly because of my father and how much I followed in his footsteps - District Eleven just wasn't a place where one was friends with everybody. It was too big of a place to know everyone and those you did know were either too busy working or too busy being an asshole to be friends. At least, that's how it was for me. I guess I fit into the asshole category.

By the time everyone was gathered in the square and properly squared off, it was 4:30. It took forever for the Reapings to get going in Eleven, but that was mostly because of how large the district was. I could never even imagine walking over the entirely of District Eleven and some people had to walk _far_ to get to the Justice Building.

There was a new Escort this year, as there was every few years. I suppose they get paranoid about being killed as the Escort the year of the riot had been, so every two or three years a new one rolls in. One thing was always the same: the Escorts were always dark. Maybe because they didn't want us to feel like we were _excluded _from the Capitol because we weren't pasty or creamy or powdery. I knew there were other dark-skinned people throughout Panem but Eleven had the largest population. And even with their "efforts," the Capitol still looked pretty pasty, creamy, and powdered to me.

She had masses of hair and if it were straightened, I'm sure it would have gone forever. She had tight curls that grew out as opposed to down and she let grow free. Her hair was died in a gradient, greenish-blue colors like a glass bottle or something that started dark at the roots and got lighter the further down. She had comically wide brown eyes and a small, curvy stature. She wasn't too terrible looking.

"Hello, hello!" Were we really supposed to relate to her or something? The Capitol was so stupid. "Hello, District Eleven! My name is Persephone Clack and it's a pleasure to be here so that I may have the _honor_ of escorting two brave young District Eleven tributes to the Hunger Games!" Her Capitol accent was so thick that I would have laughed if we were anywhere else. I knew better than to laugh during the Reapings.

"I've brought a movie made in the Capitol, would you like to see it?"

Apparently someone was feeling particularly cheeky today because I heard some boy shout "No!" back at her. I half expected a Peacekeeper to turn and start shooting immediately. Even I knew better than to make fun at the Reapings. It was a solemn event and I was nothing if not a little sensible.

Persephone looked scandalized, her eyes growing even wider and her lips pursing as she looked in the direction of the voice. After a moment she cleared her throat, put on a smile and said, "How funny you Elevens are." Whoa. Elevens? That was pretty damn rude, and that's really saying something - _me _calling something rude.

A murmur started throughout the crowd of teens and she must have caught on that she did something wrong because she immediately corrected herself. "Let's start the movie, shall we?" Almost instantaneously, the large screens changed from shots of the crowd to the movie we had all seen a million times. Hardly anyone really payed attention. When the torture was finally over, Persephone spoke again, acting as if she had never done a thing wrong.

"Now! What we've all been waiting for! We'll start with the girls!" There was a slight limp when she walked but I had more important things to think about. Like how if I got picked, I would have a lot worse than a limp. We all waited with bated breath as she opened the piece of paper, looked down, and then back up at the crowd as if she would personally be able to pick out who's name was on the slip.

"Dakota Mallory? Is there a Dakota Mallory?"

I some other girl shout, "No!" but nothing else was done to prevent. A small twelve year old girl from the very back, shakily made her way up to the stage, staring out at everyone with big eyes pleading for help. I felt bad for whoever had to kill that sweet face, and I felt bad for any family she had that had to give her up.

Persephone awkwardly patted the girl on the head as if congratulating her for not breaking down into tears even though she looked pretty close to doing just that. "What a brave young girl!" she exclaimed into the microphone with her sickly sweet smile. "Now. The boys." She limped away from Dakota and my eyes followed her the whole way there. She plucked a name and I was suddenly grateful for all the food I'd stolen, and all the tesserae I'd never had to take.

"Milo Knox."

My heart fell through the ground.

Like the "no!" that had been shouted for Dakota, I heard my own mother scream out an, "Oh God!" and then the loud sounds of Aunt Maizy shushing her while my mother loudly sobbed and screamed into her shoulder. I did not show weakness. Maybe I twitched at first, but I collected myself as quickly as I could and made my way to stage in quick, strides. I held my head high, swallowed any emotion, and stood on the stage inches above Persephone and feet over Dakota.

What Persephone said next made me assume that she had once escorted for career districts because she asked the stupid question of, "Now, do we have any volunteers?" I had seen on television once that they ask that question before they even pull names in District Two. It was pointless asking it here. No one would step up for a trouble-making, lanky rebel boy and a shaken twelve year old girl.

I was proven wrong when an eighteen year old stepped forward, a wobble in her voice as she announced that she volunteered.

_**Carissa Bossi**_

It was a small job and I felt ridiculous breaking in for something as measly as a loaf of bread when I could easily steal crown jewels, but I was hungry.

I didn't fumble with the lockpick at all. Years of practice and I easily managed to slide it in, wiggle around a little, and hear the satisfying click of the door unlocking. Most people in Twelve locked their doors in fear of thieves. In fear of me. That was exactly what they should have been afraid of but they were going about it the wrong way considering I could unlock just about any door anywhere.

It was early morning - I always woke up early in the mornings - and most people were either getting ready for the Reapings or still sleeping to try and pretend they didn't exist. There was a permanent overcast over District Twelve that made it difficult to distinguish the difference between early morning and late afternoon, and most took advantage of that to pretend that their fears and anxieties of the Reaping didn't exist until later in the day. (i.e. "Mom, it's still cloudy out! It must be morning! Reapings aren't until later, nothing to worry about!)

The house I slid into this morning was silent as I creeped through, ever light on my feet. District Twelve houses were small but not horribly so. There was no one sleeping in the front room or the kitchen, so that was good. I left the door open in case I needed a quick escape and looked around the small area just to see if there were any other escapes. A window next to a cabinet, that was about all. I could probably scramble through it if I needed to.

I slipped into the kitchen, cringing when I hit a groaning floorboard. I stopped completely, staying silent and still until the silence and house's own silence and stillness joined me. I slid through the dark kitchen, quiet as I could as I moved things around, looking for something to eat. I opened another cabinet and, inside, found a _full loaf of bread!_ I reached out to touch it and found that it was crisp and still a little warm. I internally rejoiced as I carefully lifted the bread, and closed the cabinet doors a little too loud.

I turned and was met face to face with a boy. He stood over me like a bear, his presence intimidating and he was completely blocking my path to the window. I was pressed to the counter and couldn't run for the door without being grabbed. My mind immediately began turning for ways out of this.

"Who are you?" the boy demanded - I noticed immediately that, for such a big guy, he had a soft voice - and I cursed myself for not hearing someone coming. How could I be so stupid? I'd been so careful and yet here I was, a fucking bear-like boy who'd somehow managed to sneak up on me now trapping me. I'd have to get my ears checked, goddamn.

I immediately answered, just as quickly trying to make myself look withered and hungry and sad. "My name is Kris." Taking a chance, held out the bread with shaking fingers. "I'm so sorry, sir," I whispered, trying to sound like I was crying. "I'm from the orphanage -" That was true. I had been in an orphanage until I was ten so it wasn't like he could go there and complain that one of the orphans stole from him. I wasn't there anymore. "It's so overpopulated there. I was starving... I didn't know what else to do."

There was a heavy silence as I sniffled and whimpered, and he just stared. A moment later, he snatched the bread from my hands and I cursed myself for not jamming my knee between his legs and running for dear hell back to Slip and Gambit. He sighed heavily, broke the thing in half and gave the smaller of the two halves to me. Oh.

"Go ahead. Take that." He was nice. And stupid. "Don't steal from here we again. We need this food as much as you do." He stepped back. "Go."

So I did the sensible thing and ran like hell.

x x x

So that should give a pretty good idea of what my life was like. I went around stealing what I couldn't afford - and that was everything. I didn't need money because I was a successful thief and all the little scars on my hands from lock picking were victories to me. I stayed with my "guardian," Gambit. He was the head honcho of us thieves, and his gopher, Slip, had taken a liking to me too. They look after me.

I steal. Gambit steals. Slip tells us where to steal from. And we bathe in the luxuries that we could never afford. Well... "luxuries" being used a loose term, since we could only steal from Twelve. Not a very luxurious place, really.

We still had to go to the Reapings like everyone else, unfortunately. I didn't dress as nicely as most kids did. I had the means to, I just never felt like it, really. I wore dark, tight pants, some nice shoes that I'd stolen from someone and a button up. They said that I looked like a boy with my short hair and small chest. I wasn't quite tall enough, though, and I had a pretty feminine face. If anything, I just looked like another Seam kid - tan with grey eyes and dark hair.

The walk to the Reaping was always uncomfortable because I had a little bit of a spacial issue when it came to being surrounded by other people. Still, I walked on without letting onto anything goddamn if I was going to let anyone know that I was uncomfortable or anything but blending in. I was always blending in. I wanted it to stay that way.

Twelve wasn't huge and it was never _too _crowded within the roped off areas. There weren't too many fifteen year old girls and for that I was grateful. I'd rather have my personal space bubble in a group of fifteen year old girls than be rubbing elbows with crazy, dirty adults who didn't care who I was, they would stand as close as they damn well pleased. Gambit had always had personal space issues, or rather he had issues _respecting _personal space, and it never stopped bothering me.

We'd had the same Escort for as long as I could remember. This year she had hot pink hair, pale as ever skin, and an array of sky blues and bright purples and pinks covering her. Purple nails with blue dots, pink stockings, blue blouse, purple skirt, spotless, stark white shoes. She looked like a rainbow, rare occurrences in Twelve, had puked on her.

She was getting older now, with laugh lines around her eyes and a few other noticeable wrinkles in her skin. I was sure that she would get rid of them as soon as she was done with these Games and she was comfortable in the Capitol again. "It's a pleasure to be here in District Twelve for another year!" I could hear the tension behind her voice when she said it. It probably wasn't that much of a pleasure. She had been waiting countless years to go somewhere like Two or, hell even Ten was better than Twelve. But she was here another year.

She made small talk with no one in particular, jumped when a crack of thunder came from above, and then hurried through it. I could only imagine her face if it started to rain and wash away all her makeup. "Now... ahem..." She sounded nervous, glancing at the sky once more, and I'm sure she meant to say something but she simply scurried over to the bowl on the right side of the stage, plucked a name, and hurried back to the microphone.

A smile came to her lips again and a small, embarrassed chuckle. God, it had been thunder, not a roar. But it was going to rain soon, that much was obvious. A little water never killed anybody. "Carissa Bossy." My mind immediately started working on how I could get out of this, and that was when I realized that I couldn't get out of this.

I couldn't believe this. Me? How could I get picked? I'd never taken out tesserae in all my life, I blended in, I was only in the bowl four times. Compared to other girls who must have been in there more than fifty? And I was picked? I felt trapped. Never had I found myself stuck in a situation that I couldn't escape from, that I couldn't use quick wits and a quicker mouth to run away from. I couldn't do that hear.

What if I _died?_

My legs started moving without my mind telling them to do so and I walked to the stage, feeling somewhat embarrassed about not having dressed nicer. More so, I was thinking of how I could win. I had to do this so I had to figure out a plan. I would have to map out my escapes, see who I would kill and who I couldn't kill. My eyes scanned the crowd for Gambit and Slip, and when I landed my eyes on the older man - the one who had taken care of me for so long - he only looked back solemnly and gave me a nod.

I did not know what it meant.

_**Cole Tenacity**_

It had been a strange day for me so far.

First, I woke up to the sound of someone in my kitchen. Upon sliding out of bed and checking Cierra's room and then my parents', I found that everyone was still sound asleep. Knowing my house better than anyone, I crept into the front room and into the kitchen, not making a single sound. There was a _girl_ in my kitchen. Small and thin, wearing close-fitting clothes, boots, and short hair, she was grabbing the bread that my mom had made late the night before.

Fully intent on getting the thief out, I stepped up behind her but felt bad when she nearly jumped out of her skin at seeing me. Turned out that she was just a poor orphan girl who was starving. I had immediately pictured Cierra in her position and gave in, giving her half of it. I had worked hard to get that bread. I lied about my age to work in the mines - they don't care much as long as you're working - and worked hard. Living in Twelve wasn't easy, especially when I had a sister who needed special attending to.

So the orphan girl left with her food and, now that I was awake, I went on to make breakfast for my family. I didn't tell anyone about the girl and just claimed that I had eaten it during the night and I was sorry. I was easily forgiven.

Alright, so maybe my day wasn't too strange but I'd never had to go face-to-face with a thief in my house before, so it was at least new to me.

Another thing was that it didn't often rain on Reaping Day. It was summertime and that didn't exactly mean that the weather was going to be great but the rain was often reserved more for springtime. Still, it looked like there would be a summer shower that day. That did not seem to please Daisy, our Escort (strange Capitol name, isn't it?).

I was currently standing next to my best friend, David. My immediate question when I had seen him on the way to the Reapings was, "Where's Kyra?" But that only got me teased. Kyra was David's younger sister, my age at seventeen, and the girl of my dreams. She was constantly coming around my house because Cierra enjoyed her presence. As did I. David liked to tease us about getting married and we both denied anything.

He obviously wasn't in my section but we were close so we stood near each other with just a rope dividing us.

He was respectfully silent while Daisy spoke, and I heard him let out a sigh of relief when Kyra wasn't called. I did as well. For Kyra, and for Cierra. I knew that if Cierra went in she was a goner, even if I didn't want to think like that. She functioned well with us but when she had episodes, it could get pretty bad. She needed our family, and I don't know what I would do without her.

However, when the girl who _had _been called walked to the stage, looking like she had gears whirring in her brain, I recognized her immediately. I squinted up at her, almost questioning myself for a few seconds. That couldn't be her. She had said her name was Kris, right? This girl was name Carissa. It could be a nickname...

I supposed that I would never have the chance to find out. She was probably a goner - Twelve kids almost always were, besides our lone Victor. This morning she'd broken down in tears just at being caught with bread in her hands so I couldn't imagine her killing someone and being able to get through it. I felt bad for the poor orphan girl.

Daisy was quick to shake Carissa's hand and move on to the boys' bowl. She clearly wanted to get done before rain started falling. And I saw her panic when a big, fat raindrop fell directly in front of her heels on the stage. She practically ran to the microphone, only glancing at the slip of paper for a second before she said the name. She was clearly in a hurry, but it sounded like she was _trying _to be considerate and sensitive about this whole event.

"Cole Tenacity."

I was a quiet kind of guy. When I pictured myself getting Reaped, I had thought that the whole world would explode. I imagined myself crying and screaming and being dragged to the stage by Peacekeepers forcefully. This did not happen. I was silent and solemn, feeling heavy as I walked up to the stage. All I could think about was Cierra. I would win for Cierra. She _needed _me, she needed her family complete. I had a job I had to return to. I had to win. _  
><em>

I didn't even need to think about it. I _would _win.

I climbed the stage, probably looking colder and harder than I had an hour ago. A look of shock passed Carissa's face when I climbed onstage, so I knew it must have been the same girl from earlier. She looked taken aback and stared at me for several seconds before bringing her eyes down. Meanwhile, Daisy quickly pushed out the speech about her _brave tributes from District Twelve._

We shook hands.

And the Games had begun.

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><p><strong>So I think I'm going to put a poll up on my profile for who your favorite character is so far (this won't impact who wins at all), but feel free to leave a comment with all that! <strong>

**I'm going to take down the character list but everything you may need should be on the blog and if it's not, feel free to tell me and I'll be happy to put it up there! **

**Thank you.**

**~ Lexie**


	8. Train Rides

**Alrighty... polls aren't really gonna work out too well. Don't worry about it, though, I don't really need them, it was just for fun - they weren't gonna affect the story in any way. n_n We're at the train rides now! So we're this close to the Capitol and then that much closer to the Games! Also, we get to see a little more of the careers that I sort of accidentally ignored a little in the beginning. Whoops.**

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><p><span><em><strong>Luminous<strong>_ **_Galore_**

Jett had told us that he was going to give us some time to process this. Not that we needed it, we were both volunteers who were perfectly capable and ready to go into the Games. What was there to process? Still, I guess it was better than just sitting there while he droned for hours about something or another. He was my friend and a good guy but holy shit, could the guy talk. If you didn't stop him, he'd go for hours.

Ryha reminded me a lot of Velvet. She was the older of our mentors, Jett being nineteen and Ryha being twenty-five. I had known her before she was a Victor and she'd changed a lot - she was all high and mighty now, walking around like nothing and no one was better than her. Jett told me that she didn't make eye contact with people unless she deemed that person worthy, and that Jett wasn't worthy. All of this couldn't help but remind me of my _charming _partner, Velvet Labelle.

Speaking of Velvet, she had been gone for the past hour or so. She took one look at the luxury, gasped, and disappeared to her room, presumably to touch everything that looked priceless.

I had yet to even change out of my Reaping outfit. After Jett and Ryha had dismissed us, I had gone to sit back, relax, and watch the other Reapings. District Two's boy looked pretty good, Three looked pathetic as always, Four looked like a good pair of tributes, Five- Oh, Velvet was back. She stood there above the couch in the same red lipstick she'd adorned at the Reaping, with her hands crossed over her chest, clad in some shimmering black tank top and just as glittering white leggings, looking at me but not quite at _me._

"Can I help you?"

"So what's your token?" she asked, intrusive as always and only amplifying that by sitting too close to me and then I realized what she was looking at. The locket hanging around my neck, sapphire colored. "Is that it?" Her pale, slim finger went to point at what I had just been thinking of.

This girl was so annoying - always getting in other people's business, asking questions she didn't really care about just so _she _could give her two cents that no one else really cared about, know-it-all, cocky. And _me _calling someone _else _cocky was really saying something. "What's it to you?" Sure, she was my district partner but there were no cameras here, I didn't need to be all that nice to her.

"_I _didn't bring a token," she said like I asked, sitting up a little straighter. She tucked a blonde curl behind her ear, giving me a smile that was so sickeningly practiced, I could have thrown up. "I think tokens are pretty weak, don't you?" Oh my God, she was so stupid. Why would I think that? I was holding a token in my hand at that very second, oh my _God. _"Like... why would I need a reminder of home when I'll be back there in no time? Why do I need something to cry over in the arena? Tokens. Pfft."

"Don't you have a little brother?" She almost seemed to _soften_ at that, like her plastic fake-y attitude fell away for just a second. It was gone as soon as it had come and she nodded, a bright white smile on her bright red lips. "When you never see him again, you're gonna wish you'd had something to remember him by. _Miss Velvet._"

She looked offended by this and with a pleased grin on my face, I pushed my glasses up and turned back to the television screen.

_**Ophelia Isla**_

I had gotten Ruby and Coltan had Juno. This arrangement worked pretty well for me because Ruby was a badass and she seemed to be just as anti-Capitol as I was, just a little more secretive about it.

Ruby had still been called Ruben when she was Reaped, she won in no time with hardly a scratch and when she got out, she announced to the world that they now needed to call her a girl and by the name Ruby. The Capitol wasn't too happy with this and in turn, she wasn't too happy with the Capitol. Naturally, I didn't care much what she wanted to be called because I knew that she could break a man's spine in half so who was I to judge what she went by?

All four of us were currently seated in the soft, padded chairs, myself close to the window and Coltan next to me. Ruby was across from me and Juno across from Coltan. They were speaking but my eyes were on the woven blue bracelet wrapped around my wrist, my mind flashed with images of big, red curls and strong arms wrapped up around me. They were probably cheering me on back at home right then.

I would get home for them if it was the last thing I did. If I was going to win for anything - even more than my parents, I was winning for Tiana and Orion.

Lost in my own world, I slowly tuned everything out until I felt a small nudge against my side and I whipped my eyes over to Coltan. To my embarrassment, _all _of them had stopped talking and were now looking at me. My face burned red but I only scowled and looked down at the table.

"Stop looking at me," I huffed, crossing my arms over my stomach and angrily slumping back against the cushions.

"Listen, honey, you've got to listen to us," Juno insisted and I mentally sneered at her. I knew better than to do it for real because these were the people who were going to help me in the Games. They could just as easily _not _help me if I had a bad attitude. It was really tough to suppress my bad attitude. "We're here to help you. Now, what was the last thing you heard?"

x x x

So, as it turned out, listening to Juno and Ruby actually had pretty good results.

Coltan seemed to hang onto every word they said like it'd actually help him. I mean, it would help _me _tons but he was going to die. He stood high above me, sure, and he had more muscle but I would win this thing. It was almost funny how pathetic he was and how interested he looked. We heard their stories and how they'd individually won the Games, and the stories were very different. While Ruby relied more on being smart and waiting out until the Final Battle - a pretty rare thing for District Two tributes - Juno had killed her way to being the leader of the Career pack and then broke off to kill them all off.

I hoped to be more like Juno because I wasn't sure if I could sit around and wait everyone out. I had to be doing something.

I was getting lost in my thoughts again when Coltan entered the room. It had been a few hours since Juno and Ruby dismissed us and I'd been watching and rewatching the Reapings, nitpicking at the tributes from other Districts, paying close attention to the other Careers. I knew instantly that that Velvet girl and I wouldn't get along, but no one else looked _too _bad. Safin seemed weak. We'd probably kill him first.

I was sitting on the couch, on the far end, remote in hand and a pair of the softest pajamas I'd ever felt in my life. Two was nice but this stuff was like nothing I'd ever even considered to exist. The idea that it was the _Capitol's _took away some of the magic but I'd reluctantly climbed into them anyway. "Hi," I said without looking at him.

He sat down at the other end of the couch and I finally looked over at him, being met with a nod of hello.

"So," he started and I sighed, setting the remote down so that I could put my attention back on him. Whatever he was about to say, I probably didn't care and I just wanted to finish mentally preparing my kill list. "We haven't had a chance to be formally introduced." Oh. I thought he would talk about strategies or start asking personal questions or... something. Not that. "My name's Coltan Tantalum."

He stuck his hand out for a shake and I just looked it for a second before cautiously reaching out and shaking it. I didn't immediately drop dead from showing the slightest sign of manners, so that was good.

"Ophelia Isla."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ophelia."

_**Flynn Derezze**_

"I. Am _so_ sorry." I had been saying this for just about the past two hours, unable to stop thinking about how I hadn't shaken Ciyna's hand.

I'd just been scared! It wasn't my fault. I was just scared and panicking and I didn't even think to shake her hand. But now I couldn't _stop _thinking about it and Elissa had scolded me for it the second we got on the train and God, I just felt so bad. What a bad first impression, right?

"Flynn, really, it's fine. I'm sure no one even _noticed._ If I were you, I would've done the exact same thing," she insisted over and over again for the past two hours. Even Watt, our mentor, had told me to _Settle down, kid. She ain't the President or anything. Now that's a man you don't want to mess up a handshake with. _I think even Elissa had gotten tired of my apologizing but she'd just passive-aggressively told me to shut up and left for about half an hour.

Again, I nodded. I'd probably be apologizing again within two hours but, for now, I went quiet again and put my head down a little.

Watt had finally sat us down to talk to us about the Games and while we were waiting for Elissa to join us, I'd said it just one more time. I wouldn't apologize anymore, I swore. Didn't want to look weak-minded or anything. That was the downfall of any District Three career because all we had was our minds. No brain, no life. Not like I had much hope anyway - I could barely do anything right in school, what chance did I stand?

Elissa, with her white hair that sparkled and glittered tied into a braid behind her, sat down at the chair closer to Watt than to the either of us. I could tell that she thought we were trash and nothing more. Did she not realize how little she would have without _my _District? Those stupid devices they used to scan our blood and about half of everything they had in the Capitol came from us. _She _was the trashy one. Hmph.

"Alright, now that we're _all _here," he shot a look at Elissa which resulted in her giving him that manufactured, _'screw you' _smile. Elissa had been Watt's Escort too, he'd only won three years ago, and so I was sure he knew how nasty and fake she was. He disliked her and while I didn't really dislike anyone very much, it was a little funny to watch him look at her like he'd proved her wrong. Like he'd won when she acted like she knew none of us would. "I'm going to be the first one to just say it. You two don't have great chances."

That was a lot more direct than I'd expected and apparently more than Ciyna'd expected too because, out of the corner of my eye, I saw whatever hint of a smile she had drop, the life left her black eyes, and her skinny, sharp self stiffened.

"In fourteen years, only one kid from Three has won. And here I am." Watt was an overall lighthearted guy; smiling and smirking with everything he said, but for now he was serious. His dark eyes grew darker, and he stared the two of us down. "You-" He pointed at me and my heart skipped a beat. "You're thirteen, right?"

I bit the inside of my cheek and gave him a nod.

"You have even less of a chance than the kids from _Twelve_ because they're at _least_ sixteen. I mean, you've got less of a chance if you make it that way. You're young, you're not strong. But you're from Three. You'd better be smart." Except I _wasn't _smart, but I didn't tell him that because I didn't want to hear from him that I just had no chance. Now he turned to Ciyna, and so I looked to her too. "How old are you?"

"Oh, I'm fifteen." Even now, she managed to sound not panicked. Everything she said came with a wave of comfort because she always sounded very casual, very easygoing and happy. I could listen to her talk through the whole experience and it'd probably be my only rock.

Watt visibly deflated a little, bringing a hand to rub his face and sigh softly. "Alright. You two are youngsters." He'd been seventeen when he went into the Games so I guess anything younger than that was young to him. Thirteen and fifteen seemed pretty young to me too, though, so it wasn't like I was disagreeing. "But you, Ciyna, you've got to look after him, understand?"

I expected her to ask why, maybe even with a little whine to it. Why did she have to carry some inept, thirteen year old burden on her back?

"Yeah. Of course."

There wasn't an ounce of question in her voice. She simply accepted it, not like it was something she _had _to do, she happily _accepted_ it and I felt good about that. She wasn't going to be a bad District partner at all. I knew I wouldn't make it far enough to but I really hoped that I didn't have to kill her. She was just too nice for me to kill, or even attempt to. She didn't seem like the kind of girl who would kill anyone else either.

Not that it mattered, neither of us would ever even get the chance to.

_**Ripple Seagrace**_

The air had been painfully tense ever since we got on the train. If it had been anyone else, it wouldn't have been because the awkwardness wasn't _my _fault, it was entirely because of Safin. Safin who got Reaped and told someone who volunteered for him _no, _and obviously not because he _wanted _to go into the Games. Safin who'd made a big scene at the Reapings. Safin who stood tall above me but I was sure that I could beat up.

Rowen and Nym had spent awhile telling us to remember the Career training we'd gone through - without asking us if we'd done any Career training - and Rowen apparently felt it was necessary to tell us that we were lucky we'd even gotten training, back when he'd won there wasn't that luxury. He was the winner of the second Games ever so I had some major respect for him. I'd demanded that he be my personal mentor, and Safin got Nym.

Nym was nice, sure. But had she won the second Games without any sort of training?

And you don't win the Games by being _nice._

Still, I needed to get in goods with my allies if I didn't want to be dead within the first day so, after awhile of sitting at the window and watching the surroundings blur and change past the usual sand and oceans that I was used to, I went to join Safin. He was in his room, changed into a pair of jeans and a sleeveless shirt. I was dressed pretty similarly and I guess we could have been mistaken for siblings from afar. Tanned skin, freckled from the sun, toned bodies, and his almost-blonde hair was close enough to my very-blonde hair.

Looking at a few of the Reapings made me realize that almost all District Four people looked exactly the same and everyone else just looked different.

"Hey," I greeted, interrupting him from inspecting some decorative glass box. He didn't jump, to my surprise, just flinched slightly before turning to face me.

"Hey," he echoed back, a charming smile coming to his face. I mean, it would be charming to anyone who _wasn't _me. I wasn't about to go weak at the knees for my District partner when we were about to go into the Games. Besides, falling for someone? That was just asking for trouble - especially with the both of us being Careers, ready and able to kill at any second. I wasn't about to get manipulated. I was smarter than that. "Did you need something?"

I crossed my arms over my chest, silently shaking my head as I moved about his little room in the train. I spotted something on the nightstand and I went to snatch it up. It was just a sloppily paintjob on a seashell. Lame.

"Did you watch any of the Reapings?" I asked after a moment, setting the thing back down on the mahogany and he was pretty quick to snatch it up. That caused some closeness between us and so I moved away again, sitting down on his bed and crossing my denim-clad legs. I wasn't really used to jeans and it felt kind of weird against my skin but damn did I look good.

"Yeah, a couple." He seemed to be unsure if he should sit as well for a second but he did in no time, sitting on the far end of the bed from me. Always keeping distance. That was smart of him, maybe he wasn't _as_ pathetic as he seemed.

"The other Careers?" He nodded and I snorted as I continued. "That girl from One? What a joke. They're all ditzes, I laughed so hard when she did what she did. She seems like a huge know-it-all bitch, am I right?"

A small smile slid to his face and he scoffed quietly as he nodded. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Who do you think is going to lead the Careers this year? I think the boy from Two looked pretty impressive, and I guess maybe the guy from One and, of course, I'd be happy to but-"

Maybe interrupting him wasn't the greatest idea considering that I was trying to make friends with him and place nice but I had already done it. "No, no. _I'm _leading the Careers." He looked almost amused at this notion and as though he thought it was a joke so when it looked like he was going to laugh, I raised a brow at him - daring him. "Really. I am. What, you think I can do it?"

"No, of course I do!" At that, he seemed to be more genuine. He seemed to really think I could but then he continued. "It's just... a girl's never lead the Careers before. I'm sure if you win, the Capitol's going to be impressed." Ah yes, the good ol' days of the fourteenth Hunger Games when the notion of a girl leading the Careers was absurd.

Also: '_If _I won.' Pft. "Oh, trust me, I'm going to win."

"Aren't you, like, fourteen?"

"Just another thing to impress the Capitol _if _I win, right?"

**_Anya Powers_**

I had come to learn in the short time we'd spent on the train that Atticus Horne was the biggest fan boy ever for my sister.

Rev and I were the ones who were supposed to be listening to every word she said like we were prophets and she was a God, but he was the one who set his chin in his hand and looked at her like he wasn't well into his forties and she was only twenty one. He looked at her like she was a new handbag in the Capitol that he just wanted to steal and keep. It was kind of creepy when I put it into those words, but yeah, he definitely adored her.

Why he chose some curly haired, Five Victor to fawn over instead of a blue-eyed, blonde-haired One Victor or maybe even some pink haired, yellow-eyed Capitol woman, I had no idea.

"So, how are you two feeling?" Atticus asked us and I'm pretty sure Rev was about to open his mouth but, always needing to get my word in first, I opened mine first. Being the gentleman he was, Rev gladly let me.

"I'm feeling great." It was true. While I hadn't exactly been hoping to get Reaped and I'd miss our little Victors' Village, I was prepared for this. I wasn't too worried about being killed, I felt ready to go into training and then into the Games. I had a Victor as a sister so it must have run in the family. "What do I have to worry about? My big sister won the Games. It'll be no problem."

This time, I _saw_ Rev open his mouth but this time he was interrupted by Salem. I guess the Powers weren't as educated in manners as he had been. Believe me, I knew how this kid grew up, his whole life revolved around being a mindful little gentleman. We weren't raised as nicely, hence the curses that rang through our house first thing in the morning.

Had that really been this morning? It felt so far away.

I only caught on to what Salem was saying about halfway through as I pondered how far away the morning really was. So much had happened, it couldn't have only been a few hours. "-smart to think that way. It wasn't all that easy for me to win, you know. I only made it through because I was smart, and I had been ready for what the Gamemakers were going to throw at me. I know you're smart too, Anya, but you can't just act like it'll be the easiest thing in the world. That goes for you, too, Junior."

I guess he was used to being called that because he responded immediately, looking up at her and giving her a charming little smile. He was too young for me, of course, but sure, he was a cute for a kid. A real sweet boy, too.

"Of course," he told her, making just the slightest adjustment to sit up even straighter. "I'm not expecting it to be very easy but.. I'm going to do my very best. What do you think we should work on in training?" Of course Rev Lockson Jr was the kind of kid to actually ask the mentor questions. Maybe it was because she was my sister but I always imagined kids being too shy or too prideful to actually _ask_ for advice.

Salem looked almost, if not more, surprised but also just as happy to go on and tell him the answers to everything he asked.

_**Elijah Broberg-Schrader**_

Withdrawal was a bitch.

Maybe it wasn't quite withdrawal yet but I was aching for some morphling. I was pretty sure that everyone on the train could tell that I was an addict, excluding Rosie but she was too young to understand that sort of thing anyway. Well... maybe not too young but I was pretty sure she couldn't tell anyway. Our Escort seemed to have a problem with _staring _and our mentor, Grant, just looked at me knowingly, maybe even pityingly.

I didn't like being pitied but I just silently fumed over it, not able to maintain eye contact with either of them because Nari would stare at my sunken cheeks and my just-a-tinge-too-yellow skin and my wide eyes. I guess the Capitol didn't have as big of a morphling problem as Six did. I also guess that Grant didn't have a problem with morphling at all because he'd pulled me aside just to talk to me about it.

"I'll try and get you stuff to help you, alright?" he'd whispered, metallic grey eyes boring directly into my own hazel ones. I was forced to look away. Maybe I just had a problem with eye contact but it made me uneasy to just have him staring right at me and myself staring right back. It made me uncomfortable.

"I don't want you getting sick and fucking up in the arena," he told me. Rosie was right in the other room, watching and re-watching the Six Reapings. When I asked her about it, she told me that she was trying to see her brother in the crowd. That was pretty much enough to wrench the strongest guy's heart. "You've got to take care of her, got it?" Grant was very straightforward, he didn't fuck around and while that always made me want to give him some snarky response just because that's the kind of guy I was, I put up with it. Really, I needed to be put in my place a lot of the time. I just didn't accept it.

"She's young. She's innocent. If you two are the last in the Games, I expect to see her coming home. Do you hear me?"

Well jeez, I kind of wanted to live too.

But I did have a big soft spot for kids, especially this Rosie girl. And her brother deserved to see her home again. Who would be missing _me_?

"Yes, Sir."

_**Bazaar Tane-Flores**_

The table was uncomfortably quiet as we all ate. The only sound was forks and knives clacking against porcelain plates and the soft chewing of the nicest food I'd ever tasted in my life.

Every now and then, Tia would try to make pleasant conversation and I would try to return it but it was pretty quickly ended. No one had asked for tips on how to survive in the arena and we hadn't been given any either. District Seven had yet to have a Victor, and the Capitol's solution to this was to send reject Peacekeepers to "mentor" us. Personally, I didn't think it made much sense to send trained, loyal-to-their-district District Two adults to help other district kids win the Hunger Games, but I had no say in it.

Not to mention, these people had never even been in the Games. I had a horrible feeling that we weren't going to make it very far if this was the most personal, relatable help that we were going to receive. He hardly spoke it all, rarely looked at us; he would have made a great Peacekeeper.

I had never imagined lamb would taste this good. The train cart smelled really good, but much more manufactured than I was used to. I had stepped into the train and almost felt dizzy from how _different _it was from the forest-y smell of District Seven.

"So. Arden." I cleared my throat in the pause but she immediately snapped her brown eyes up to me. "Um. How... how are you feeling?"

She looked almost shocked at this question and there was uncomfortable silence again before she replied without answering my question. "Who are we going to ally with?"

We had watched the Reapings together earlier and made a few passing comments to each other but nothing very much. We had agreed already that the two of us would stick together, for sure. She seemed nice enough, very innocent and sweet and I felt like I needed to protect her. So we would be allies. "Well, uh..." I hadn't thought about it too much. I had been more focused on myself to think about the other districts. "I think that Eleven looks promising. If they split up, we should definitely take the boy. And uh... well.. maybe Six?"

"Six?" The redhead looked shocked that I would even consider it. "The guy, maybe. But he'll want to stick with the little girl, probably, and I'm not sure if we want to carry on that extra weight." Little kids always died in the Games - as sad as it was.

"...Yeah. I know. I wouldn't mind protecting her too."

Almost as if she hadn't heard that, she continued. I guess she didn't want to ally with Six. Alright, we had good chances nonetheless. "I think we should definitely get the girl from Five. Her big sister is a Victor, I remember. She'd probably be good too, she looked strong."

"Alright." I had no problems with the girl from Five. I didn't want to upset Arden too much before the Games started, either, so I'd go along with what she said, do my own things on the side, and see how things worked once we got in. "Is that all?"

I then learned that Arden could talk all through dinner and for at least an hour after about who she thinks would make good allies.

**_Tessa Von_**

Twill was just as happy to ignore me as I was to ignore him. I sat in my room, clutching that piece of Vinny's shirt in my hands, remembering how his clothes felt bunched up in my hands, remembering his smell and the feel of his arms. How could I ever forget that?

Just moments before he came into my room, I could hear Twill and Lionel speaking outside the door. Lionel was out Escort and he was nice enough but I didn't trust him. He probably thought that I was crazy like everyone else did. I knew that Twill thought I was insane, which I wasn't, and that was probably what they were talking about. Or maybe Lionel was telling him to make friends with me because seconds later, Twill came into my room without knocking.

I hadn't changed out of my Reaping dress even though the sun was going down and it was nearly night time. If I focused _just _enough, I swore that I could smell Vinny on my shoulder and I could smell his house in the fabric so I refused to change. We were going to the Capitol and they were unpredictable. What if they _burned _this dress? Burned my memories of Vinny? I was going to cling to this thing.

The moment he walked in, his gaze went to the fabric in my hands and my fist clenched around it.

This was mine. None of his business, none of his business, get him out of here, why was he here? To call me crazy, I just knew it. Get out, get out.

"Hi, Twill," I smiled at him as he slowly, cautiously, shut the door behind him. He thought I would hurt him. I wasn't crazy, god damn it. I was being as nice as I could, giving him my nicest smile - second nicest smile, the nicest was reserved for someone else - and slowly standing. No sudden movements, didn't want to scare him off.

"Hey." He was eyeing me over like I had a weapon on me. If I had a weapon, I probably would have already used it on him for being such an asshole. He didn't need to look at me like that. I wasn't crazy. "So uh... Mister Mom out there said I should stop being a huge dick and make some friends. I didn't really want to, trust me, I don't like you just as much as you don't like me-"

"I don't dislike you." Yes I did but I may as well act nice. I didn't have to be a huge jerk on the outside. Like he was. "I'm not crazy."

It felt like a perfectly reasonable thing to say but he looked even more put off after I'd said it. "Uh... you sure? Because, you seem pretty batshit to me." I moved a little closer, arms crossing over my chest and eyebrows raised at him.

"Why do you say that?"

He shrugged, taking a step back when I took a step forward. We were close enough that I could touch him but I still kept my hands to myself. He twitched when I raised my hand to twirl my hair around a small finger, still looking at him and waiting for an answer. He was so unnecessarily rude, it just made me so angry. He wanted me to not hurt him but here he was, saying all these things about me _to my face_.

"Well, I mean, you almost killed a teacher and you're _obsessed_ with that guy you hang around." I felt an itching anger at that last part. I was used to hearing about the instance with the teacher but how dare he bring Vinny into this? I stiffened, waiting for more, waiting for just another reason to not help him during the Games. "You killed your mom, I heard. You're fucking crazy, no one's going to want to ally with you. That's why no one volunteered, no one _likes _you. In fact, I was pretty sure everyone was _glad _when you were-"

He just kept running his mouth and before I could think to stop myself, my palm hit hard against his cheek. The hand without Vinny's shirt in it, anyway.

"_Get out_," I hissed at him, glaring up and feeling my hand ache with the want to hit him again. Harder. Hard enough to knock him out. Hard enough to kill him. "Get _out!"_ His eyes were wide and he looked like he was about to hit me back after a second but I raised my hand and he was out the door within three seconds. "Get out!" I screamed after him. "Don't come talk to me again! I hate you!"

_**Valmir Septim**_

Vernetta wasn't _as_ bad as I had first chalked her up to be.

I still didn't like her nor trust her, she was still a factor in Antionette's death, but she wasn't the worst person I'd ever talked to. She was quiet at first, minding her own business, and asking a few futile questions to our mentor, Everett. He was jumpy, seeming pretty traumatized, and he could never answer anything Vernetta asked, even when I yelled at him to _Snap out of it. Teach us. You're supposed to _teach _us. _After awhile of me being standoff-ish and rude to her, she was still determined to talk to me.

She didn't leave me alone for a damn second and I guess that was kind of admirable. Once I started talking back, she talked a lot and she was actually pretty smart and nice, I guess. I still didn't like her. She just wasn't terrible especially since I was stuck with her for a few days.

She had long since retired to a pair of flannel pajamas with her long blonde hair tied behind her and come to my room. I didn't bother telling her to leave because I had figured out fairly quickly that she wouldn't budge until she was finished. She was stubborn and pig-headed and it was terribly annoying.

I had tuned her out about twenty minutes ago, just staring at the sheets, picking at the soft stuff and ignoring her. Every few minutes, I would nod or give her an _mhm _so she at least thought that I was listening to her. Not so that I wouldn't hurt her feelings - just so that I didn't get an earful for not listening. That had happened before and nothing good ever happened when people yelled at me so I at least _tried _to ignore it.

That came to bite me in the ass when she gently reached over and shook my shoulder. Immediately, I grabbed her wrist and gripped it tight. I didn't take well to being touched _or _startled, she would need to learn that fast. Her eyes were wide on me and I didn't say anything, just aggressively threw her wrist back down and turned away.

"Did you hear what I said?" she asked softly and, almost embarrassed, I shook my head. "I asked if you wanted to be allies." She didn't sound angry at me. At the most, she was just a little exasperated, but even then, she was more understanding and gentle than anything else. She was like a mother or something.

I paused before finally looking back up at her and giving her a shrug, permanent scowl not giving her much of an answer, probably. "Sure. I don't see why not, no one else in this hell hole is going to help us." She seemed almost shocked and I almost have sneered at her naivety, to think that anyone would actually want to help useless kids from Nine, but I didn't. "But if I have to, I will kill you."

It wasn't very long after that she left.

_**Valora Zenner**_

Having two tributes who were quiet and reserved wasn't very good for getting to know one another.

So Snow hadn't gotten to know one another. I assumed that we wouldn't be allies because neither of us had said it. We watched the Reapings separately and I saw a couple of people who I wouldn't mind allying with but I didn't discuss it with Snow. We didn't ask any questions to the District Two woman who gave us "pointers" about the Games.

Pointers being stuff that I just _knew _was sabotage. What kind of _real _advice was it to tell us to go after the Career's supplies? This woman clearly wanted another win added to Two's pile of them and she would tell us anything to get that. Luckily, Snow didn't seem to believe anything she said so I didn't feel the need to tell him not to follow any of it.

Right then, I simply laid in my bed, staring as the light shifted around my room, casting shadows over everything. All of it was constantly shifting and changing because the light never really stayed the same. Occasionally, we would head through a tunnel and I would be cloaked in a stifling darkness, other times we would pass somewhere where the lights were bright and the whole room was lit as if it were daytime. However, most of the ride was spent in dim light that was just enough to let me see everything but enough that I could still go to sleep if I wanted to.

I couldn't sleep and I supposed that Snow couldn't either, because it just made sense. I imagined that Augusta, our Escort, was having no problem sleeping. Her orange hair was probably relaxing peacefully on her pillow, wrapped in soft blankets like it was the most normal thing in the world. This was normal for her, this was her life. Every now and then, I would see the District Two woman, I didn't know her name, out and about through my open door. At one point she just sat down at the table, and stayed there for the longest time before getting up and going back to her room. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what she had been doing.

Snow was probably lying awake, just as I was. Maybe he was thinking about how I was awake too, I didn't know. He was probably thinking about his family. About his big sister who had looked down at Cass and us so angrily just that morning. About his little brother who was probably crying with his parents at home.

Speak of the devil, the dark haired boy showed up at my door not a moment later, looking shy and ashamed, eyes cast to the ground and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

"Valora, are you awake?"

I looked at him for a few more seconds, considering if I should just pretend to sleep or not but a stray beam of light would give me away eventually anyway so I whispered back. "You can call me Val. Yeah. What is it?"

He hesitated again. "I... know we don't really know each other but... can I sleep in here? On the floor."

I immediately thought of all the times I was too afraid to sleep in my room, when I was young, and would beg my brother to let me sleep in his room. I thought of how he always let me without any question because he understood. And I understood Snow.

"Of course."

_**Milo Knox**_

I hadn't been able to sleep all night.

It was still pitch black outside but I couldn't sleep. I hadn't even been able to lay in bed for more than an hour at a time. My nerves itched and I was too anxious to stay still. I stood at the window now, twisting my ring around my finger and staring at the window. I had tried many times to open the window because I would gladly take the risk of jumping out if I could. Unfortunately, it was sealed shut and all I could do was stare.

Was Mom okay? Was Aunt Maizy okay?

I pressed my fingers to the cold glass anxiously, wondering if _I _was okay. The answer was obviously no and so I went back to worrying about my family. They were no doubt crying, worried sick. Aunt Maizy was probably brewing Mom tea, forcing her to lay down in bed and try and get some rest. My stomach twisted at the idea that she wasn't able to function without me there.

Oceania was a nice girl, especially considering the fact that she volunteered for her little friend but I needed to get back home to my mom, my aunt, my friends, my district. They all needed me, whether they realized it or not, and I needed to get back.

I could hope that I wouldn't have to kill Oceania or anybody, but I would do what it took.

Eventually, I passed out on the ground next to the window and I woke up to the mentors looking awfully concerned. And just because I'd fallen asleep on the floor.

_**Carissa Bossi**_

Daisy had fed us well and I could easily say that the food was better than even the nicest things that I'd stolen in Twelve. Breakfast was just as good as dinner, pancake stacked upon pancake with maple syrup drowning them and sliver of butter placed perfectly on top, every kind of fruit imaginable, juice and milk and wine, bacon, eggs (I found that eggs with syrup on top was surprisingly delicious). There were biscuits and bread, jams, sweets. Everything was perfect.

I'd gone to my bedroom some time ago, blinds shut and light on as I changed. Capitol clothes were very different from my usual attire but I found something that was normal in due time. Brown, heavy knit cotton pants and a white shirt. Everything fit disturbingly well, as if between the time that I was Reaped and the time that I got on the train, they'd designed a wardrobe tailored to my size. I guessed that they had just taken average sizes of Twelve and based it on that.

Just as I was combing down my terrible bedhead that I had gladly eaten breakfast with, Cole came running to my room. He knocked before coming in, but didn't wait for my green light to come in. Oh well.

"Carissa, come on!" I hadn't seen him excited yet and my eyebrows shot up at it. He dashed off before I got the chance to ask what it was but a small smile slipped onto my face as I followed after him.

"I told you to call me Kris! What is it?" I laughed, slowing to stop when I reached him.

He was looking awed as he gazed out the window and I slowly turned to look as well.

Oh.

The Capitol was impossibly bright; much brighter than I'd ever imagined it to be. I had to squint as the train slowed at the pristine white streets that were covered with ridiculous people. I'd thought that our Escort was absurd but these people were _ridiculous._ Different was an understatement when comparing this place to District Twelve's clouded skies and muddy grounds and dull hair, clothes, and people. These people were all dressed brightly in yellows, pinks, and every other color that made my eyes ache.

Cole looked pleased and I couldn't help but smile as well, bringing a hand up to wave back at all the people who screamed and wave at us.

The train doors opened and the screaming was much louder. I felt like a celebrity and when I turned to look at Cole he looked overwhelmed, so he nudged him towards the doors to let him through first.

Daisy stepped out first, pausing to take a big inhale of the Capitol before turning to us with the brightest smile.

"Welcome to the Capitol!"

* * *

><p><strong>*dies*<strong>

**This was honestly as short as I could make it oh my god, I really hope that I did all your characters justice. Please review with your thoughts etc etc, thank you!**

**~ Lexie **


	9. Tribute Parade

_**Velvet Labelle**_

I had always thought District One was _good _but it couldn't hold a candle to the Capitol.

These were my people.

Everyone dressed in the most lavish clothing and even if it was a little silly and over the top, it was _magnificent. _Getting out the train, we were rushed to be primped and pampered for the train rides and nothing could have been better.

There was no greater pleasure in life than to be pampered and the Capitol did a wonderful job of making me even _more _beautiful. I'd said goodbye to Annika, Luminous, Jett, and Rhya and had barely gotten all their names off before some women from blondes to bluenettes were pulling me away. They didn't seem to care much to include me in their conversations but I didn't mind much - I just happily listened to them talk a mile a minute about what they were going to do with me, and gush about how _lovely _my hair was and all that good stuff. They had at one point considered cutting it short but I'd immediately shot that down. I was not going to be cutting my hair, thank you very much.

The water came in quick short bursts against my skin as they washed me down, myself humming softly as they did. They plucked my eyebrows and trimmed my hair, scrubbed my down until I was soft as a baby. When they ripped any shreds of hair from my legs, that was a little less pleasant but beauty came with a price. Besides, I had to look pretty, otherwise who was going to like me? I needed people to like me or I was a dead woman.

"What do you think they're doing with the District One tributes this year?" One woman asked another with pastel pink hair as she tugged a brush through my curls.

"I heard that they were just dousing them in gold and glitter."

This was definitely the life for me.

_**Coltan**_ **_Tantalum_**

"Oh my goodness, he's so strong," one gushed as she felt up my arms. "Ani, come here, look."

The one who had been meticulously trimming off the shortest bits of hair off the top of my head set her scissors down so that she could come over and join the first in feeling my arms. Okay then. Capitol people were touchy, way more touchy than District Two people, and I didn't want to be ethnocentric or anything but it was putting me off a little bit.

"Oh wow, you're right. Are you going to be leading the Careers, hon?" 'Ani' asked, picking her scissors back up. I was at least glad that she moved on quicker than the first woman. Speaking of, she went back to what she had been originally doing in plucking my eyebrows. It was all very embarrassing and I didn't see why, exactly, they really needed to give us makeovers considering it wouldn't matter much once we were in the arena - but that's how things had always been and who was I to judge the Capitol and how they do the Games? It's all to help us in the end, anyway.

Whether I was put off or not, I always wanted to stay in good graces with the Capitol so I gave a chuckle but didn't dare to move in order to shrug. "I have as much as a chance as any one of us to lead the Careers."

Almost soon as the words had left my mouth, she slapped my shoulder and let out a small laugh. "Don't be so humble. You've got to be the strongest Career going out there-"

"So loyal to his District, too."

"Yes, that too. I mean, comparing _you _to that little guppy of a District partner you have? And you all have _equal _chances of leading. That's ridiculous. You've got it in the bag, sweetie."

I itched to say something. Ophelia wasn't a _guppy. _She was small, sure, but she had a lot of passion. I knew that she could do damage if she tried to and it wasn't fair for this woman to say those sorts of things based on how we looked. Of course I'd be happy to lead the Careers but she didn't need to discredit the rest of them. In the end, we were all going to serve our Districts and serve Panem.

I didn't say anything, however. I sat there and gave her a small smile and a nod to show that I'd heard her. These were Capitol people, they knew what they were talking about. If I didn't agree, then I needed to learn how to agree and that was how easy it could be.

_**Ciyna Qillon**_

"Ciyna Qillon, huh? Sounds like a Capitol name."

I had been stripped practically hairless and there was still a stinging sensation in my legs but I smiled nonetheless, offering a hand to the man who I now knew was my stylist. I had thought all the woman fawning over me were my stylists but apparently they were all assistants. How many assistants could one man have?

He took my hand and kissed my knuckles briefly, not letting go after he'd done it. "My name is Justice, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ciyna."

I nodded to let him know that yes, it was a pleasure to meet him too. Which it was. He was the most normal Capitolite I'd met thus far and it was a pleasure to have a little bit of normalcy. A year ago, sitting in a dead quiet room talking to a man with golden eyelashes wouldn't have seemed very normal to me but, right then, it was a nice break. I'd been pushed and shoved around for hours now, the minute I got off the train I had been met with roaring crowds and scurried from place to place. Sitting and talking? This was fantastic.

"Now. I was thinking we'd go silver. You know, like, coils."

x x x

Apparently, he didn't mean just like the _color _of coils. The things he shoved me into were... elaborate, to say the least. If nothing else, it was probably going to be the least revealing costume. My hair was tied up in a bun above my head, wrapped in a couple of "wires." The dress _was_ silver... as well as gold and rust and every other color that metal could get because it was made up of metal; the outside, anyway.

The inside was comfortable enough, made out of fabric but the outside was littered with gears and coils and wires, there was a coil wrapped around my upper arm and on my left calf, and Flynn matched me, only he had silver tights on because there wasn't anything pants to go with it, just a vest. Many of the parts would move or turn but nothing too extraordinary. I also guessed that these outfits were _not _made in District Three because every half an hour or so, I would feel a little shock from some wiring gone wrong.

Were they made in Three, I was sure that that wouldn't happen.

We were powdered paler - Flynn really didn't need that but I guess that I was darker than the average fair-haired Capotilite - and my eyelids were brushed metallic grey. I was given long, fake eyelashes that reminded me of spider legs, golden at the tips. Our elbows, shoulders, outsides of our wrists, and my knees were all sprayed with just a little grey and then faded out into the now-paler color of our skin.

I was scared that I was going to burst into flames but otherwise, we looked pretty nice.

_**Safin Bayview**_

I wasn't too surprised when District Four was given the most promiscuous costumes they could have come up with.

Plenty of guys were topless, plenty of girls had their boobs out and some leg showing but District Four? No, they had to go above and beyond for District Four. Maybe it was to show off our great swimmer bodies but I somehow doubted that something this _showy _would get us sponsors. I was surprised that they put a fifteen year old in this kind of thing, to be honest.

We didn't have much more than netting on us, basically.

Netting and underwear, really. Ripple looked mortified in her bikini, just a shade too close to her own skin color for her liking, a skirt made of a single sea-green net tied at her hip by something that looked sturdy like boating rope but was far too thin. The rope trailed down her exposed leg with some seashells knotted on here and there. Then some more net as a sort of shawl "covering" her to just below the breasts. I wish I could say that I was so lucky to have that much coverage.

But there I stood in nothing but a speedo and same colored net draped over my shoulder like the togas that District Two were decked in. It made my skin crawl with embarrassment to know that everyone from the Capitol to District Twelve would see me looking like this. _Nakita _would see me looking like this. Oh God, if I got home, no one would ever let me live this down. I could win the goddamn Hunger Games and all my friends would do is tease me about my chariot costume, I just knew it.

I _had_ been planning to socialize with the other Careers and maybe even a few outlying districts but I refused, not looking like this. Ripple seemed to have the same idea, the both of us trying to stay hidden by the walls of out Chariot, legs pulled in and bare feet pressed against the opposite side, we sat facing each other. Silent, but red faced, we sat there like a team. We may have been stupid looking but we'd at least look stupid together.

"This is humiliating," she finally grumbled, arms wrapped around her tanned knees and glaring at the floor.

As much as I agreed, I patted her knee and shook my head. "Hey, at least we're not dressed like cows or in some stupid slutty miner outfit, right?"

She didn't look very comforted by this but she looked up at me nonetheless, clearly agitated. "All of District Four is going to see us like this." I shrugged at that, slowly standing up and stretching my legs. Embarrassing as it was, I could at least let her think that we had nothing to be ashamed of. We were from District Four and even if I didn't agree with the message I was trying to send, she shouldn't feel bad. "What are you doing?"

"Only one of us is going back, if either of us. And, Ripple, if you go back home, you won the Hunger Games. You think they're going to care about that one time you were forced to wear close to nothing and strut your stuff for the Capitol? 'course not, now stand up and stop moping, I think it's almost time to go."

_**Rev Lockson**_

If there was anything that I was happy about this year, it would be that our costumes didn't look like batteries. Not like it mattered that much but the tributes the year before had looked ridiculous and maybe it was just because they were from District Five but they hadn't gotten any sponsors and I wouldn't be taking any chances.

The only real fault to these costumes was that we couldn't leave each other's side. Not that we really had anywhere we particularly needed to be but all the other tributes could roam free, for the most part. We were dressed in back, herself in a dress that clung a little too tight but I would never stare and I was in a short-sleeved, knee length body suit that clung just a little too tight, and I'm pretty sure she didn't want to stare anyway. Binding us together was a couple of black wires with blue LEDs that lit up and I guess made kind of realistic electricity. We had some coils attached to us with the same effect.

We didn't look the _worst _but it wasn't exactly favorable.

Anya and I were actually getting along remarkably well. I had thought that if I were ever going to go into the Games with someone, they would hate me or not want to talk to me, if not for just not wanting to get close to someone beforehand. I had figured that, being a Victor's sister, she would find someone who wasn't a short, wimpy guy to pair up with but here we were.

"You used to live next door to me, right?" she laughed. "I remember your parents' dinner parties. We used to hang out, my mom told me all about it, but I don't really remember a lot." I didn't blame her. We were both young when we were 'friends' but I smiled at the fact that she remembered we were friends at all. She leaned back against our chariot, the corners of her lips quirking fondly in remembrance.

Now, not that it was my top priority but I may have had a little bit of a crush on Anya. Who could blame me? She was pretty, she was smart, she was friendly, she was spunky. She was a childhood friend, we had a past. Sure, she was three years older than me and I had _no _chance and I was going to my death anyway, I couldn't help it. My stomach filled with butterflies as she spoke and I couldn't help but smile slightly as well.

"Rev?" I snapped back to reality, jerking up straight and nearly snapping the cords between us.

"Sorry, what?" _Goddamn it, Rev, get your shit together._ It took a breath, put on a smile and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I zoned out, what were you saying?"

Her smile came back, dark eyebrows raising as she laughed, and my cheeks heated.

"I was just saying it's nice to get to know you again. You were a sweet kid, I'm sorry you had to go into something like this."

Oh.

All at once, it didn't feel as light or fun anymore. It felt inappropriate to smile, especially when she wasn't, so I let it drop, resisting the urge to shrug - my mom had always told me not to shrug or point, it was rude. "It's okay. Someone had to go." I wished it hadn't happened to me too but it had, there was no use pouting over it. "I would say the same to you, but I'm not worried about you. You'll win, it's obvious."

Her smile came back naturally. Relief flooded through me at the idea that that heavy discussion was quickly avoided and she patted my shoulder.

"Don't discredit yourself yet, Junior. This place is surprising, you know? For all we know, that teeny thing from Twelve will be willing the guy from Two. You've got just as good a chance as winning as the rest of us."

I knew that I wouldn't win but I didn't say anything because the lady is always right.

_**Rosie Johnson**_

Elijah was sick and I felt bad for him.

He had seemed fine when we were on the train and okay-ish when I'd last seen him being dragged away by the people who scrubbed me ruthlessly and dressed me up. Now he was pale and a little shaky. His long hair that he'd let me braid on the train was now all gone, shaved down into a buzz cut, and I was afraid to touch him.

I'd asked if he was okay when we saw each other but he was angry and irritable so I'd shut up like he told me to.

Then I started crying.

The whole thing was just too overwhelming for me. The first time I had done it, Cyra - my stylist - was there to calm me down. She had pet my hair, wiped away my tears with her thumbs the way that Big Brother always had, but thinking about that just made my cry because I missed my big brother. Elijah had.. sort of helped. He patted my back hesitantly and told me it was going to be okay. It was better than nothing and I eventually calmed down.

The second time, Elijah wasn't having any of it.

I knew he was sick and angry, so I couldn't expect too much of him but he'd gotten mad when I started bawling again and he stormed away. I didn't know where he'd gone and so I was just sitting on the floor next to my chariot, crying my eyes out and probably ruining my makeup. That made me feel worse. Everything just kept building up until I couldn't take it and I got a sick feeling and then just kept crying. Every time, I thought about how I needed to do something about it but I'd never move an inch.

Through my blurry vision I could see some of the older kids looking at me and I swear some of them were laughing. They were Careers. I was proving how weak I was. I needed to do something about it. I didn't move an inch, and just kept on crying.

At some point, I heard someone walk over to me. Assuming it was Elijah, I sniffled and gasped loudly as I tried to stop crying and looked up. It was not Elijah and I couldn't bring myself to care. It was the girl from Seven, I thought, and I flung myself against her, crying loudly into her orange hair and clinging to her tightly.

I knew she was caught off guard but I thanked God when she didn't push my away. She only held me tighter, pulling me close but the both of us having to be careful of our costumes. The stylists would have our heads if we messed anything up. I was sure that I'd already messed up big time, so why not take it a little further? There was no point in trying to fix things for myself, I'd already hit rock bottom.

"Hey," she finally whispered, running her slender fingers through my hair soothingly. "Rosie, right?"

Her voice was soft, it reminded me of home and for that, I was grateful. I would definitely have to stick with her, she was a candle. "Y-yeah?" I stuttered, clinging to her still. She didn't make any attempt to stop me.

Her sigh was soft but I caught it. It was exasperated or angry, like what Elijah had done, it was like she was sad. I could feel her start to pull away and I let her, but my grip was still tight on her forearms. I didn't want to let her go, couldn't this girl be my district partner?

"It's time to go in just a minute. But... Just don't cry, okay? It's okay. Find me during training, I'll be your ally if you need one." She gave me a smile that was so kind and so genuine that I couldn't help but smile back, though mine was shaky. Her thumbs came to wipe away the last of my tears, trying to clean my tears of tear-streaks. "I guess they used waterproof. You look beautiful and don't worry, alright? My name's Arden."

I nodded and sniffled again, releasing my hold on her red flannel. With shaky hands, I ran my arm under my nose and rubbed my eyes but she gently took my wrist. "Don't do that, it's bad for your eyes." _Well jeez, lady, I was just crying my eyes out, give me a break. _I took that thought back quickly, as if she could hear it. She was only helping, I had no reason to be snappy. Gently, she let me go and took a step back. "I'll see you later?"

With a parting nod, she turned away and walked back to her own chariot.

**_Bazaar Tane-Flores_**

I had tried not to watch while Arden comforted the little girl from Five. It was a very personal thing, and I had no business watching but... it was sweet. Arden seemed like a sweet girl and I worried for how she would fare in the games.

Her smile had returned when she got back to our chariot, red hair pulled away from her face into a high ponytail.

"Sorry. I was just helping her," she said said, waving her hand dismissively. "She's young, you know how it is." My mind drifted back to my little siblings in Seven and, yes, I did understand. Kids were fragile and I could only imagine how broken up my little sister would be if she were here. I nodded down at her and smiled back softly, close mouthed.

I was about to say something but a man's voice was ringing through the air around us and most likely outside for the audience to hear as well.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Tribute's Parade for these fourteenth annual Hunger Games!" Even from inside, my ears ached from the roaring applause that came from the audience. Though most tributes were already on their chariots, I saw the one's that weren't hurry to get into them, the girl from Four stood, the pair from One seemed to be checking each other over one last time for any blemishes. "It is an honor to announce the arrival of these twenty-four brave young men and women, so let's hear it for this year's tributes!"

Two doors opened and suddenly the room was flooded in darkness besides the bright lights from outside. The noises from the crowd grew louder and louder, especially as the chariots jerked forward and we began moving forward on the path between the thousands of Capitol people.

Taking a glance down at Arden, I saw her face immediately change. She looked petrified. I carefully took her hand in my own and her fingers immediately squeezed around my palm. It would have been endearing if I knew that it wasn't out of fear, that sort of made it hard to enjoy. It was then that I realized that almost everything we did after this point would be out of fear, and I was going to have to find little lights in the darkness to enjoy about them anyway.

_**Tessa Von**_

Twill stood as far from me as he could on the chariot.

I was sure that that wouldn't be very good for him or me in the long run. We were district partners and we were supposed to show that we were a team, that we would band together. Of course, we _weren't _going to do that, but he could at least act.

The crowd was overwhelming, too. Most people in District Eight ignored me, so that was what I had become accustomed to - being ignored. Here, all eyes were on me and how was I supposed to react to that? I felt a heavy weight on my chest and shoulders but I kept on my smile and waved out at the masses nonetheless. I was sweet, I was lovable, I was innocent, I was sweet, I was lovable. I had to make them love me.

My smile was bright and big, despite how I shrunk down slightly. My waving was enthusiastic, almost childlike. I could hear a voice in the back of my mind, guiding me all through it, making them love me and trust me, even if Twill didn't. Twill was just an obstacle on my way back to Vinny, Twill just needed to be removed.

_**Valmir Septim**_

The ride was endless and throughout almost the entire thing, I felt as if I were going to throw up. Vernetta had tried to comfort me, I supposed, gently hooking her pinkie finger around my own, and I had reacted like she burned my skin. I didn't move away from her, though, and there was a part of me that knew fully well that it wasn't because I was frozen in place. She _was_ comforting and she _was_ kind and right then, it was something I needed.

I was sure that I would go deaf from the noise and at one point, I was pretty sure that my ears were bleeding but once we had stopped and I reached a hand up to check, I found that my face and ears were blood-free.

The chariots stopped in a semi-circle, in order from One to Twelve, and if I squinted up, I could just barely see the President. He was an elderly man, probably going to die soon. Just like all of us. After he was gone, there would be another horrible President that would continue this disgusting game, most likely until the end of time. Not that it mattered how long it lasted, I wouldn't be around to see it.

He raised a hand and the crowd quieted but not by much. It felt good to have them all behind me, no matter how loud they were at this point. I felt Vernetta's pinkie lock with mine again but this time it felt more like she was comforting herself, and I let her do it. I still disliked her, okay. I wasn't gaining any sort of _soft _spot for her, I just... we had to get along. In order to be partners. Yeah.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" he started, and his voice was not the same as the one we had heard inside. "I look before me, and I see twelve young men and twelve young women, twenty-four brave tributes willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of our great nation!" The crowd went wild over this and I only felt disgusted. He acted as if we wanted to be here, like this was a great nation, and like our deaths would actually mean something to the future of Panem. "Looking at you all, there are only a few words I can think to say to you all. First off, _thank _you." The crowds went wild again and I felt sick. "And finally, I wish a happy Hunger Games to all! And may the odds be ever in your favor."

With that, it was over, and a beat passed before the chariots were moving once more, taking us all inside, another few hours having been wasted on our way to inevitable death.

**_Snow Winters_**

Getting off the chariots, we were immediately bombarded again by my stylist, her assistants, our Escort, but there was an unsurprising lack of our "mentor" there.

Augusta was passive aggressively letting us know that she wasn't happy she had to miss the president's speech in order to meet us, but it wasn't as if we made her do it. We weren't babies, we could be left alone for a couple minutes while they made their way through the masses. She talks and talks until my stylist, Astrix, pushes her to the side and stands in front of us.

It was then that I realized I was still clutching Val's hand. Maybe I had been little scared, okay, but it wasn't a big deal. Anyone would be scared! I was only fourteen, I'd never seen that many people before in my entire life, let alone all of them in one place, screaming. I knew that Val noticed, though, because she noticed everything, her blue eyes shot towards me for just a fraction of a second, and I felt my cheeks go pink.

"Don't listen to her, alright? You two did amazing, the sponsors'll be pouring in, just you wait." A comforting smile grew on her baby blue lips and she looked between us with the baby blue eyes to match. "When it comes to the interviews, just make sure you smile a little more, the Capitol will love you two just as much as I do!" Val had talked nonstop about how sure she was that she could win the Games. I didn't have too much faith in either of us but Astrix's words helped, if only slightly.

Clearly not happy with being overshadowed, Augusta interrupted. "Come on, let's get you two out of those _ridiculous _costumes." Astrix seemed to know that she was just trying to rile her up and only smiled, quirking a pastel eyebrow at the other woman. I would never tell her, but I agreed. We were basically dressed as cattle, horns and all. "I'm sure you two are starving, I know I am, and I also know that we're having _duck _for dinner!"

She said it as if we'd never had duck, but I was sure that Capitol duck must have been much better than Ten duck. She began to walk and we all trailed behind her, Augusta still talking about food, and Astrix proceeding to quietly act more like a mentor that our _actual _mentor.

_**Oceania Emeli**_

Over the course of two days, I had learned that Capitol duck was worlds better than anything we had in District Eleven, Persephone wasn't _as _prejudiced as I thought she would be but she was still bad, Finch and Nell were excellent mentors who really deeply cared about the both of us, and Milo was as much of - if not more than - a suicidal bastard as I was.

Sure, I had volunteered and it had been stupid, but Milo was abrasive, rude, and defensive. The Capitol would love these things if he looked stronger. If he were a large tribute who got a Career-worthy training score, then they would love his mean attitude, but he was scrawny and all of these things. No doubt he had hidden strength from working in the fields, just like me, but he didn't look the part, and therefore he was just an annoying, angry cannon.

The five of us were seated at the dining table, holding silverware finer than anything I'd ever seen, and happily eating our food as everyone at the table but me was invested in a heated discussion about how to not die in the Games.

"No, listen to me, kid. You act like I haven't won the goddamn Games. You're 'sit back and relax' theory isn't going to work here. This isn't a place where you can just steal some wheat and pick your teeth until someone comes along and catches you. You have to be _constantly moving. _And if you're not going to be _constantly moving _then you can't just sit back in plain sight! Be smarter than your idiot friends in Eleven!" Finch had been repeating this for the past twenty minutes in different words, and Milo never got it. I agreed with Finch.

"What? You mean these friends?" Milo balled up his fist and showed off his ring to the man across the table from him, food long forgotten. "At least we're actually doing shit and not sitting back, enjoying a cushy life as a Victor! I'd rather die for my ideals than live the way you do!"

"Back to survival, Milo, you have to understand-" Nell began but was promptly interrupted by Finch.

"I used to be like you, you know!" The conversation about surviving was apparently as far from their minds as the food in front of them. "Stupid and rebellious and wanting better. Well things don't get better! Give up on trying to change shit, kid, because it _doesn't change!"_

"You're a coward," Milo hissed.

"You two be _quiet!" _Nell demanded. She was a woman who would not be kept quiet and I loved that about her. She would be as feminine as she pleased, she would quiet down when she wanted to, but if she wanted to be heard then she would raise her voice above everyone else. If I won the Games, I was determined to try and be more like her. "This is not about the treatment in Eleven. Because either you're dying here or you're going to the Victors' Village. Milo, if you win and decide you want to fuck the Capitol over, fantastic. If Oceania wins and lives a peaceful life as we do, then that's great too."

She had stood up, slammed her palms to the table when she was quieting them down, and she slowly sat again, politely laying her napkin in her lap again. "What we want for you two is for one of you to win, and so that's what we should be talking about."

Everyone was quiet again when she went on to explain strategy.

_**Cole Tenacity**_

From the moment we got back from the Parade, Kris had been watching re-runs of the Games. I had tried, several times, to sleep. There was a machine in the bedrooms that changed the sounds, and several times I set it to District Twelve, expecting the noises to change. It wasn't the usual moans of starving people or wet hacking of sick, dehydrated people. Instead, I heard children laughing and playing, birds chirping in the background and the slapping of shoes against muddy grounds. I could practically feel the sunlight they were trying to convince us existed in District Twelve.

I spent awhile exploring the space we had been given to live in for what little time we would spend in the Capitol, and spent a full five minutes staring out the window at the ever-bustling streets of the city. I had no idea how anybody could sleep with all these lights on outside all the time.

After many failed attempts of leaving her alone, I resigned and silently sat next to Kris on the softest couch I'd ever been on.

"How are you doing?" I asked, not wanting to really talk but finding it was the best thing to do.

For the first time since the parade, she looked at me and snorted, rolling her eyes. "I'm fantastic, Cole, aren't you? All this stuff I could jack and can't bring it back home."

Her sarcasm wasn't shocking and it didn't faze me, just made me sad that she was so unhappy. I would never go as far as sacrificing anything as important as my life for her happiness but it was just sad to know people were sad. I wasn't the most empathetic guy but I could still recognize when something was upsetting.

"Are you missing anybody?"

At this question, her body tensed and I knew that I shouldn't have asked. All I knew was that I couldn't think about anything but my sister and my parents. I hadn't seen her cry once, I hadn't seen the look on her face that would let me know she was lonely, she was longing. I didn't know if she had anybody at all.

"It's none of your business." Her voice was sharp and, for the first time all night, she stood, starting towards her own room. "No one likes someone who's nosy, Cole, stay out of other people's business." Then she was gone, her door shut behind her and I heard the click of a lock.

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><p><strong>A short, really late chapter. Sorry guys, sorry.<strong>


	10. Training

**First day of training! Some alliances are just beginning to form, though nothing is gone into too much detail here. It's a shorter chapter and I'm thinking that I'll probably make the next one longer. Also, I'm not sure if I should do one more chapter between the interviews and the Games, so what do you guys think? Now that we're getting more into the characters personalities, please let me know what you think of them! **

**Thank you for reading, and please review! 3  
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**~Lexie**

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><p><span><em><strong>Valora Zenner<strong>_

We all stood side by side, like we were banding together, like we were friendly. Or maybe it looked that way from afar. Inspecting us closer would show that we were all just as bored, irritated, and disgusted by the person next to us as the next. It was finally training days and, even standing so far from them, I could feel the energy bursting off the Careers; excited to show how they could kill us all.

All twenty-four of us were dressed identically, in tight grey shirts with out District number patched over the breast on the right side, tight black pants, and boots. All good for training. All good for fighting and killing and running.

The woman who was going to be watching over us as we trained was named Atlanti. She explained to us the rules - no fighting with other tributes, put everything back where you got it, the kinds of things that you would tell a child playing with toys - and showed us the stations, one with a man or woman settled at each, presumably to show us the ropes. The Gamemakers sat above us, looking down into the large area, no doubt to judge us.

I was just the type of person to notice things, and since I wasn't so good with weapons or traps - I hoped that noticing, observing, predicting would be enough to pull me through.

Atlanti, after nailing the rules and basics into our heads, disbanded us and once again, we were all separate.

I saw the some of the Careers walk together, but the girl from One made her way to do her own things as well as the girl from Two. Both from District Six walked together, the boy from Twelve seemed to be following his district partner more than them going together, and the boy from Eight seemed to be avoiding his partner the moment he got the chance. I looked around, feeling pressure and anxiety sink into me as I tried to find something familiar. I didn't want to make myself look like an idiot on the first day, but it wasn't as if there was much I knew how to do.

I was oblivious to my own actions, eyes widening slightly. The fear was pressing down on me, finally.

There was a gentle touch to my shoulder and I whipped around, but there was only Snow and his gentle face, gentle eyes, gentle everything. I felt eased at once, looking at him for several seconds before I let out a breath and opened my mouth to say something, but he spoke first.

"My family are all butchers." Well okay, then. I was caught off guard by the proclamation, because what did it matter? He must have seen my confused face because he gave a small smile and continued. "I work with knives. Your family are farmers, right? I can show you how to use knives."

Now an important decision sat before me and I hesitated. Snow seemed kind enough, he didn't seem particularly dangerous but looks could be deceiving. He could be as manipulative as the girl from One clearly was, or the girl from Eight. Then again, who else did I have? I had nobody.

No one could be trusted, but when he started off to go work with knives, I found myself following him.

**_Luminous Galore_**

A big part of winning was striking fear into the other tributes' hearts.

I needed to let them know not to mess with me, and that if they did mess with me, they were going to get their beating heart ripped out. I may not have looked like much - I was definitely no Two, he was stocky and muscles, obviously strong. He had a strong jaw and a strong face. People _knew _not to fuck with him. But me? I was lanky. I was strong, but it didn't show, I had a thin face and looked like a posh rich boy. People didn't know that I was dangerous, not yet anyway.

I had only half listened to the training instructor, instead spending my time scoping out the different stations, deciding which would be most beneficial to me. The mentors told me to show everyone else that I was stronger. The outer tributes hid their skills but the Careers showed them.

Knowing that I was strong and able, they had also told me to head for the survival skills but why would I do that? How was I supposed to scare people by eating a poisonous mushroom? Four and Two had both gone there, anyway, so I knew that people in the alliance would know what to do. I just had to hope that they wouldn't trick me into eating poisonous mushrooms.

I made my way to the miscellaneous weapons, knowing that I was best with a spear and wanting to show it off. I picked one up that looked like it would be a good weight, and also spotted a stuffing-filled dummy with blue painted targets on it, across the way, silently frightened and waiting for me to maim it. Before throwing, however, I took a moment to look around, make sure that people were watching. What was the point of putting on a show if there was no audience to witness it?

First, I looked to the Gamemakers, they were the ones who truly mattered. I saw a few eyes on me, and a smirk slid to my face before I even had the chance to look at the fellow tributes. I caught eyes with the boy from Twelve and made sure he knew I was looking at him. Our eyes remained locked for several seconds before, in one swift movement, I turned to the dummy and shot the spear.

Yes! Right through the target, not that I expected anything less from myself, I _was_ the best with spears in the Academy. Then... I noticed it was a little off-center. What the hell? How the _hell _did I miss the center? Sure, it was _close _but close wasn't going to win me the Games, I needed to perfect it. When I looked back at Twelve, it was with a snarl on my lips, and he was quick to turn away. At least I'd scared him. But I needed to be better. I stomped over to the dummy, grabbing it's soft shoulder and ripped the spear out from its insides, picking off the stuffing that had stuck to it. _  
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I returned to my spot, not bothering to look around this time before throwing it. Even worse, it shot further off target. I heard snickering and whipped around to glare at Velvet and the girl from Four. It was my anger, and I knew it. When I got pissed, I did worse but how was I supposed to stop being pissed when I was doing bad?

I needed to be better, stronger, scarier, more dangerous. How was I supposed to terrify people while performing this poorly?

Taking a breath, I retrieved the spear and glared at the girls as I went back to my spot. "As if you could do any better, Princess," I spat towards Velvet, venom in my voice. If I had to kill a Career, she was going to be the first to go. "Let me practice."

Her perfectly plucked eyebrow only raised at me, setting her hands on her hips and jutting her hip out. Seagrace's arms were crossed over her chest and her expression was near mirroring Velvet's. Aw, so the princess had a little pupil, how adorable. I took a breath, calming myself down and facing the dummy again. I imagined it was Velvet, threw the spear, and hit dead center.

**_Bazaar Tane-Flores_**

My eye had been caught by a certain girl. Ever since the parade, when I first saw the other tributes, she had stood out. She had been draped in the finest fabrics, outside anything I could ever imagine, made up to look beautiful. Even now, when she was dressed like all the rest of us, she still stood out, she was still the one that held my attention.

After seeing her, I had gone back and watched the Reapings again, just to watch her part again. Her name was Tessa Von, and she was gorgeous.

Atlanti dismissed us to train but before I could go anywhere, Arden was stopping me, planting herself firmly in front of me and looking up. We really were tree people. "Bazaar, this is nothing against you," she started, voice soft and low. "But.. I think we shouldn't be allies. I want to help Rosie but if you want to come with me, you're more than welcome." That was, if they accepted her in the first place. Arden was a nice girl, I figured they would.

This gave me a great opportunity to ally with the beautiful girl from District Eight. Maybe it was a stupid idea, considering one or both of us would end up dead, but I wanted to spend time with her. It may have been too early to say but we could have been star-crossed lovers, who knew?

Maybe a little too eagerly, I nodded at her, immediately scanning the area for Tessa. I knew she wouldn't be with Twill because that boy avoided her like the plague, and my theory was proven when I saw him chatting with the boy from Three by the knot-tying station. "Yeah, of course. I think that's a great idea. You're a sweet girl, Arden," I told her, finally putting my attention on her and giving her a smile. "I wish you the best of luck."

I had been entirely genuine about that, I wanted the best for her and for all of the good people here. They didn't deserve to be in the Games, but they were here and so I only hoped that one of them would survive. She smiled back at me and, with that closure, we went our separate ways. I didn't look back to see where she was going, only tried to find my way to the auburn haired District Eight girl.

I must have been more obvious than I thought because it wasn't long before I someone had stepped in front of me, and it was the kid from Eight. Not Tessa, Twill.

"Um... hi?"

His arms were crossed, face serious, looking like he was ready to tell me the most important thing of my life. "What are you looking for?" he started, and that nasally voice almost made me laugh. He tried to be tough but he was a little too freckled and boyish to pull it off.

"Tessa...?"

"Fucking Christ." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and shutting his eyes, his face turned towards the floor. Apparently, I had said something very wrong. I knew he didn't like Tessa, but what was the problem with me doing so? She was cute, she was sweet, she was innocent. I felt like I needed to protect her. "Listen, Bazaar, I'm going to give you some advice. And this is probably the best advice you're going to get throughout these whole games." Listening, I stayed quiet and he continued. "Tessa is batshit. Don't mess with her, don't try and ally with her, don't even look at her. She's crazy. She will kill you without thinking twice. Stay. Away."

That was just absurd. I may not have known much about District Eight, the people there, or the things that happened there but what could _Tessa Von _- small, adorable, innocent Tessa Von - do that was so bad?

...Twill probably liked her. Yeah, that made sense. He liked her, was playing hard to get with her, and wanted me to stay away. Maybe she had even taken some interest in me, that's why he was so mad about it. Yes, that made perfect sense. Instead of accusing him, however, I only asked another question.

"Well, what did she do? What could she honestly do that is _that bad?_"

He looked at me like I was the crazy one now. He looked at me as if, even though I wasn't from District Eight, I should have known all the latest gossip about some poor, defenseless girl.

"Let's see. First, she killed her mom. Then she stabbed a teacher with a pair of scissors and went chasing after him. She's fucking obsessed with this guy named Vinny, hangs off his arm like she wants to be a handbag. I'm pretty sure she'd kill him, too, if he did a single thing wrong. Like got a girlfriend." This was crazy. Twill was making things up, or if nothing else, exaggerating things. Tessa wouldn't kill anybody, wouldn't harm a fly, of course not. "And if she gets too attached to _you, _you'd better watch the hell out. It's safer to stay away."

I couldn't help but just stare at him. Did he even hear the things that were coming out of his mouth? They made no sense.

After a second of silence, I scoffed and shook my head. "Listen, Twill, thank you for trying to warn me or.. scare me away or.. whatever you're trying to do but I think I can handle myself. Don't worry, if it turns out that you're right and she's as crazy as you say she is, then I'll get out of there. But for now, I can handle myself. Thanks." With a pat on the shoulder, I left him looking shocked and confused.

I spotted Tessa after a few seconds, looking over at me from the trap-setting station, all by herself. Upon catching my gaze, her face turned a shade pinker and she looked down, I felt hope and butterflies bubble up in my stomach. Casually, with a welcoming smile on my face, I made my way over to her, sitting across from her and looking down at the net she was trying to construct.

"Here, let me help you."

**_Ripple Seagrace_**

I had underestimated Velvet Labelle. She had seemed like nothing more than a ditzy blonde, all about looking pretty with no idea how to hold a knife. I imagined that her head would be in the clouds, that she would trip over her feet most of the day, and that she wouldn't talk to any of us. Either that, or she would talk too much.

She was a huge bitch, but she was a bitch in the same way I was. She was a smart-ass, who liked to tease and torment people - especially her district partner, she had proven that she was more than capable with a knife, and insanely good with an axe. The second she picked it up, she had seemed to be completely in her element, hacking dummies apart to bits. She had a cruel, violent streak and I loved it.

I knew that we were going to get along, but I had been wary when we first met.

Her long, golden girls were tied behind her in a high ponytail, while my own blonde locks were in a low one. She strode over to me like she owned the place, hands on her hips, green eyes confident, and a hint of a smile in her cheeks. She looked like she was going to annoy me, and I was mentally steeling myself.

Instead of giving me a backhanded comment or a proclamation of how great she was, like I expected, she only stopped by my side, crossed her arms, and looked out among the other tributes. "So, do you know anything about any of these peasants?" she asked, only giving me a slight glance and a smile in greeting. After that, her eyes were once again scanning the area, I could hear the gears turning in her head.

I had made it a point to know my opponents, or at least all of their names. I had picked up bits and pieces about them, whether it be through gossip or observation. Only slightly caught off guard by her casualty, I shook it off and began pointing, starting with District Two. "That's Ophelia Isla, she's a huge bitch. In the bad way, not like me." Velvet seemed to get a kick out of this, her smile growing a fraction wider. "Coltan Tantalum, he's strong and crazy loyal. He's probably going to lead the Careers. Or try, anyway.

"Flynn Derezze and Ciyna Qillon, District Three. Don't know much about them but they look pretty stupid for Three tributes, I doubt they'll make it very far, especially if they don't know much about electronics." I didn't know anything about electronics, either, but at least it wasn't my district's specialty. "Safin. Bayview, he's my partner, and I'm Ripple, by the way. He's a nice guy, really charming but I don't trust him much. He didn't volunteer."

Every now and then, I glanced at Velvet, taking in her reactions. Most of all of it was just nodding, following my finger and drinking in the information. It was clear that she really wanted to know about the things I was telling her. "Anya Powers, Victor's sister but doesn't look like she has too much potential. Rev Lockson Jr, a 'gentleman.'" At this, Velvet laughed and I couldn't help but smile a little as well. "Rosie Marcellino, she's twelve, doesn't matter. Elijah, volunteered, I guess for the girl and if you ask me, he's kind of creepy. Obviously a druggy." I had no faith for District Six, especially not Elijah. A drug addict in the ring? He'd be dead in an hour.

"Arden Villa and Bazaar Flores, District Seven. I think I saw them split up earlier and she's partnering with Rosie or something? He's with Tessa right now, probably has a thing for her. Tessa Von is batshit crazy. Twill Becker is a spoiled brat. Valmir is probably just as crazy as Tessa, and Vernetta Innes seems to have some complex over protecting him." I had seen them together the entire training session, never once did they go anywhere without the other. "Snow Winters and Val Zenner are both, like, fourteen. And they're from ten, which has no skills at all." Which was true, ask anybody. "I heard Milo, from Eleven, is involved with the rebellion and is showing it off like a dumb fuck. Oceania seems passive as hell. Carissa is bossy." Hahah, I was hilarious. "And Cole is a big softie. That help?"

She took a moment to respond, still processing the information, but she nodded after a moment, her lips stained red and I wondered if she was just born that way. Who would wear make-up to the training sessions? I had never seen Velvet with anything but bright red lips and I worried that she would go through lipstick withdrawals in the arena.

"Yeah. Yeah, that was good. How'd you figure all that stuff out?" she questioned, finally turning to face me, arms still crossed but it wasn't defensive or self-conscious. It was just sort of sassy.

"I got the names from the parade pamphlet." I'd taken the pamphlet from Nym after the show and, of course, she never noticed it missing. "Everything else is either things I saw or heard, so don't quote me on anything." I was almost entirely sure that a majority of my information was spot-on, but I could never be completely one-hundred percent on it.

Now her green eyes, instead of scanning the room, scanned me. She looked over me, deliberately, sizing me up, probably trying to figure out how good of a kill I'd be to add to her collection. Sub-consciously I puffed up, wanting to seem bigger, more threatening. Finally, her eyes met mine and her lips still had that permanent smirk. "Impressive. My name's Velvet, Velvet Labelle," she introduced as if I didn't just explain that I knew everyone's name. Her hand stuck out to mine and I hesitated for only a moment before taking it.

"Ripple Seagrace."

"You know, Ripple, I think you could be awfully useful. Let's stick together, yeah?" Even at that point, she was still annoying and ditzy and bitchy in my mind, but I felt better about her. Maybe she wouldn't be too bad, maybe I could bear to stay around her for a little while longer.

**_Valmir Septim_**

Vernetta was a social creature and it bugged the shit out of me. I tried to keep her close, keep an eye on her, make sure she didn't get herself in trouble but she insisted on leaving my side, talking to people, helping them. We had to worry about ourselves, she needed to help herself, not other people.

It turned out that neither of us were too good with weapons and so we came to an agreement that we would start with something familiar: survival. We began to light fires, I taught her to identify plants, she showed me how to set traps. I had been ranting for several minutes about God knows what, but when I turned around, she was gone. My immediate reaction was panic but we weren't in the arena and there was no way for her to have been killed or anything, so my next reaction was anger.

_Why _did she always run off like this? Did she not realize the situation we were in? Was she going to be this much trouble in the arena?

I growled and stood, abandoning my knots in favor of searching the room with narrowed eyes for Vernetta. I spotted her with the girl from District Ten, her district partner next to her. They were standing near the climbing wall, looking to be invested in pleasant conversation. Vernetta was smiling, nodding, looking happy and I felt the need to protect her. She was vulnerable, she was impressionable. These two, even if they looked weak and stupid, could be planning to trick her and kill her. If anyone was going to kill Vernetta, it was going to be me. I wasn't letting some _stranger _take her life.

Marching over to the three of them, I took the dirty blonde by the arm, maybe too harshly because she flinched but I payed no mind. "Come on, Vernetta," I muttered, throwing the two of them a dirty look before turning and walking, dragging my district partner behind me. Maybe I was a little controlling but I was just protecting her, she didn't realize the danger they put her in. She couldn't take care of herself, so I would take care of her.

Maybe she was too shocked to respond but after a few seconds, she yanked her arm from my grip, rubbing the place I'd grabbed her and yes, those were definitely red marks. Fuck. "What? What are you doing? They wanted to make an alliance! The more allies we have, the better, Valmir!"

I had never heard Vernetta yell at me - at anyone, for that matter. She was not meek or submissive, but she was kind and gentle, she didn't yell at people because she tried to comfort and understand them first. Even then, as she yelled at me, it was because she was trying to look over me. But I wasn't the one who needed to be taken care of! "Stop. Stop. We can't talk to them, can't trust them, not anybody," I persisted, trying to make her understand me. My voice was quiet as it always was, but I tried to make her understand how serious I was. "They'll take advantage of you, they'll kill you. I won't, please just stay."

There was a moment of silence where I supposed she was trying to process what I'd said and I swallowed thickly in the space of a few seconds that felt like eternity. When she didn't saw anything, I continued, speaking more than I had in a whole year. "I won't.. grab you like that. If you ask me to stop, I will. Just.. don't trust other people, we can trust each other. Only each other."

Maybe I was abusive, too pushy, too grabby, too forcible and she happened to be my victim, without either of us knowing it but after a long few seconds, she sighed and looked away. "...Okay. Okay, alright but.. if you die, I have to find other people. I can't do this by myself, so please just.. work with me. Stop forcing me, just work _with _me, if we're going to be a team..."

If it kept us safe, I would have agreed to anything. "Of course," I promised, hoping and praying that I wouldn't fuck this up. Vernetta was kind and caring, and maybe I cared the slightest bit about her, too. She was the only person I cared about since Antoinette and I didn't want to lose another person like her.


	11. Training 2

**Alrighty! A little bit of a longer chapter (though not much) to make up for last update's short one! The results from the "favorite tribute" poll are at the bottom of the chapter as well as some other announcements. **

_**Lady Rythelle:**_ SORRY FOR NOT REVIEWING AND READING! **No worries about not reviewing, I'm just really glad that you are here to R&R now! Reviews really do help me to continue writing and I appreciate every one that I get.**I think Bazaar is going to ignore the advice he was given, and he's going to pay for it... **Yeeeeeup.**

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><p><span><em><strong>Elijah Broberg-Schrader<strong>_

The second day of training was, if anything, better than the first in terms of everything I ate violently emptying my stomach. I had hardly been able to get through the parade without sweating through my clothes and diarrhea ruining any chance I may have had. I had been pretty sure I was going to die and it probably would have been better than going into the ring. Unfortunately, I didn't die and had to go on to training. I had to run off and puke a lot, and I was feeling no better. It was clear enough that if I didn't get to training then I'd be useless in the arena. It had been stupid and impulsive for me to volunteer, all I wanted to do was go home.

I was starting to curse myself for ever starting morphling.

Despite locking my door every night, I woke up to find my plain, tight training uniform laid out on my bed. I woke up in a puddle of sweat and the worse cramps yet, right inside my abdomen. I'd barely slept the night before, plagued by insomnia that wasn't uncommon for me but never fun. With a groan, I forced myself out of bed and into the clothes, starting to wonder if there were any cameras in the house. I'd never seen it but maybe the people at home watched us trudge through our days before the Games, too.

My whole body was racked with pain, practically limping to the dining table where a meal was already laid out and everyone already eating. What time was it? Was I dying? The important questions.

I scowled as I picked at my food, not feeling like eating because what if I just threw it all up again? I was not looking forward to doing any more of that. I wondered if this hell was ever going to end - I had seen people kill themselves over withdrawal, and I had never bothered to see how long it would last because I had never considered that I would be going through it. I only hoped that it wouldn't be like this once I got into the arena.

"You have to eat," Grant spoke after only a few seconds, and I felt the air at the table change. It was tenser. Rosie glanced up at us and I looked back at her just in time to see her look back down, now picking at her own food. "If you don't eat, you'll die."

It bugged me that he could be so blunt. It bugged me even more when he was right. "If I eat, I'm just going to puke my guts out again," I countered before I was able to stop myself.

"And if you don't eat, you'll die. The vomiting should be over soon so get over yourself and eat, unless you want to look like even more of a target to the other tributes. With her on your back, you already look weak." He nodded towards Rosie and I felt anger boil up inside of me, maybe because of the irritability but I probably would have gotten mad withdrawal or not. "And the fact that you obviously do dr-"

"Shut _up._" I was sure Rosie already knew that I was an addict but I didn't need anyone saying it, not in front of her and not in front of anyone. I was a role model, at least to her, and I didn't want her to look up to a druggie any more than the next guy. "I'll eat, okay, just shut the hell up."

Defeated, I glared at my plate and forced the food down my throat in record time. The moment I was done, I slammed my fork down on the table - maybe a tad over-dramatically - and looked over at Grant. "Can I speak to you?" I gritted out, not trusting myself to open my mouth with the nauseous feeling that swept over me.

Silently, coldly, he stood and we marched to the hall, out of Rosie and Nari's line of sight.

"Get me some morphling," I demanded through a hiss, already feeling my hands start to shake. I wasn't a particularly brave guy, but I knew how to be brash and rude and it scared me to say something like that. It scared me that I _needed _it. I felt like I was dying and the only cure was morphling, and it was terrifying. "Get me _something._"

Grant wasn't good at showing emotions but I saw the anger that flared up in his eyes when I said it. I knew I fucked up, and I knew he was angry. "Are you stupid?" he asked, and yes, I was stupid. Before I was given the chance to snark back at him, he continued, looking much more serious than I had ever seen him look. "You want to get some shit just so you can go through all this again in the arena?"

I hadn't even considered that I would go through withdrawal again if I took more of it. For once, I was speechless, and the way my breath caught in my throat must have showed.

"You are almost done with this, soon you won't want it. You're at the worst part, Elijah, but _get over it. _You have a little girl back there who _depends _on you. And if she dies? You've got a whole district waiting for another one like me; another one who comes home." I opened my mouth to speak but he pushed me back against the wall, and in the moment where he just stared at me, I swore I could hear a fork clatter onto a plate from the dining room. "So you will _not _say that to anyone ever again, understand?" I heard the unspoken words, _There are people who will give it to you. _For just a moment, I itched to ask every Capitolite I saw.

There was a tense, prolonged moment where the silence and the tension melded together to form the heaviest atmosphere I had ever felt weigh on my shoulders. Then it was over. Grant moved away from me, gave me one last warning glare that almost had a hint of sympathy in it, turned, and walked back into the kitchen.

I could only stare back at him, rubbing my shoulder, and wondering how the hell I was going to survive.

_**Flynn Derezze**_

Ciyna and I both knew that we were hopeless without one another.

I was thirteen and useless. She was fifteen and useless - her words, not mine. We figured that we may as well be useless together and try to survive for as long as we could. Three wasn't exactly known for its abundance of victors but I was particularly unspectacular. I didn't know anything about wiring or technology or weapons, I was pretty sure that Ciyna was only agreeing to ally with me because I wasn't as smart as her, she had said she wanted to ally with people who she could lead.

Altanti went through her lecture again, not pointing out the stations this time but reminding us of the rules and all that. On the first day, she had looked at me like I was insane when I told her the only weapon I knew how to use was a gun. There were no guns anywhere in the training area so I knew that hoping for one in the Games was a waste of time. She showed me the basics of using a knife, but she wasn't very good with those anyway, so we quickly moved on for her to show me javelins. After proving that I was shit with weapons, we had moved on.

Now, we moved through the same routine. We still hadn't talked to any other tributes and I wondered when that was going to happen but the last thing I was going to do was push her, so I moved with the flow of things. I had been eagerly showing her how well I could make a trap when I looked up and noticed that she was paying attention to anything but me. I felt a small jab of frustration and hurt that she didn't care in the least, but didn't show it. Instead I just moved closer to her, inching around the trap and tapped her on the shoulder.

"What are you looking at?" I asked quietly, and she suddenly turned to face me.

A smile that seemed permanently plastered there came across her face and she shook her head, looking across the gymnasium again. "Nothing. I was just thinking that it's about time we started making allies, ya know? We only have a few days left before we go into the Games and if we don't do it soon, we won't ever have anyone but each other." She did this a lot. Rambled.

Without asking my thoughts on it, she stood and I found myself following. I liked Ciyna, she was smart and a good leader. I planned to follow her until I couldn't, it wasn't me just being a doormat. "So I was thinking we should definitely talk to some of them. I like the pair from Six, they look like they might know at least something." If I were her, I would have waited until lunch to talk to people but she must have known what she was doing so I nodded and followed her as she walked off, leaving my trap.

I was the one who spotted them first. The boy and girl from District Six were at the archery station, with a line consisting of the girl from One, the girl from Four, and the boy from Eleven to the side. If I squinted, I could see that the arrow had hit the target but was far off from the center, and Elijah was glaring at the girl from One as she snickered. Rosie looked defeated as he lead her away, and I only hoped Ciyna hadn't seen. I wanted to help them and if they looked weak to her, she may not let them into the alliance.

"There they are," I pointed out to her, and she didn't seem to have noticed anything as she grinned and made her way over to the duo.

We were nearly to them when a bright-haired girl from Seven skipped up to them. This stopped us short. She had appeared out of nowhere and joined them like she was a part of their little group. This changed things. We didn't know as much about the girl from Seven as we did about the two from Six. I gave Ciyna a glance to see what she thought of it.

She looked just a little perturbed by this, hesitating for a second before seeming to shake it off and continuing forward.

I followed her.

"Hey there," she greeted, and all three of them seemed to look at her at once. Every one of them looked suspicious. "My name is Ciyna Qillon from District Three, and this is my partner Flynn." She pointed at me with her thumb without looking at me and went on. "I was thinking that the... five of us could ally."

There was an awkward moment of silence where they all just stared at her. Now that I was closer, I saw the bags under the boy's eyes and it made me warm up to him already. He didn't sleep. Maybe it was the Games but there must have been some sort of insomnia, just like mine. I liked him already. He was the first one to speak up, and I then noticed the young girl, Rosie, looking at me.

_**Rosie Johnson**_

"I'm Elijah," Elijah spoke to the people asking to befriend us, setting his hand on my shoulder in a way that reminded me of my big brother, protective. "This is Rosie, and Arden. We're not looking for allies."

I didn't know where he had gotten that idea. Luke told me before I left to ally with as many people as I could, to stay with a group and keep myself safe. I knew better than to accept anyone into the alliance, but they didn't seem too dangerous upon first glance. They didn't have the wicked streak just under the surface like the girl from District One, or the look in their eyes that the boy from Ten got when he tore apart dummies. If I introduced them to Big Brother, I figured he would like them.

The same went for Elijah, once he got past the rude, gruff exterior, and Arden. I judged everyone who spoke to me by whether or not Luke would like them, that was how I had to survive.

Before I even had the chance to say anything about it, Arden stepped forward and slapped Elijah on the shoulder. "That is _not _true," she said, setting her hands on her hips and stepping forward. "We would _love _to have you join our alliance." She was getting that tone again, the one she used with every boy that told me she was trying to get what she wanted. She flirted her way into people's hearts and took what she needed. It was a good enough strategy but it hadn't gotten her into the Careers. That's why she was with us.

She bit her lip in a smile and looked over Flynn, twirling an orange lock of hair around her finger. She had tried this on Elijah, too, but Elijah was too busy shaking and complaining over the horrible cramps all over his body.

Flynn got this dumb smile on his face and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Another heart trapped in Arden Villa's grip. The last thing we needed was a lovestruck puppy, but at least he wouldn't betray us or anything. Hopefully he was too head-over-heels for Arden for that. "Great." It must have been an effort for him to tear his eyes off of her but he managed and looked to Elijah and I.

"So. What can you guys do?"

Now Elijah broke in again. "You're the ones wanting to join us. What can _you_ do?"

"Don't be so mean, Elijah," I interrupted, looking up at him desperately. I didn't want him to scare off potential new allies. According to my brother, I needed them, and his advice would be the one I would follow until the very end. "I'm good with nets and traps and knives and I'm getting a lot better at the bow and arrow!" I noticed Flynn glance towards the station we had just come from and wondered if he saw my slip-up.

"Rosie!" Elijah scolded, looking extremely exasperated. I mumbled an apology, not sure what I was apologizing for, and he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You can't just... tell people what you're good at, oh my..." He groaned, leaving me feeling stupid and bad but Ciyna quickly remedied it.

"Oh no worries! We want to be your allies, not exploit you. That's great that you can use weapons, because Flynn's not so good at it." For a girl who seemed so friendly and sweet, she sure delivered a good backhanded comment there. Flynn seemed to notice, looking shocked at the comment, like she had never made one before. "We're both really good with traps, and I'm good javelins and scythes. There, Elijah, now we both know each other's strengths."

He looked almost shocked at how passive-aggressive she could be, but quickly changed his expression to one of being unimpressed. "So you're from three and neither of you are good with electronics?"

Ciyna appeared to recover from that blow quickly. "No, but that's not too important, is it? If I _have to_ I can electrocute anybody in water, and so could Flynn. But the important thing here is to know how to stay alive, not how to kill other people."

They bantered like this for a few minutes more, with Elijah questioning them and Ciyna shooting it right back in his face. In the end, I knew who had one and that the whole argument had been pointless. If Elijah wasn't so stubborn and closed off, it would have been much easier. They were going to join our alliance no matter what, and he had needlessly started a fight.

He sighed, eyeing the both of them, and by that point I decided that my brother would definitely approve of the two of them. "Fine. But if you two make one wrong move, I won't hesitate." He left it at that, without saying what he wouldn't hesitate to do, but the threat was clear to all of us. I think he did it for me, trying to censor things. He thought I knew less than I did but in a horrible world like this, I wasn't that oblivious.

_**Ophelia Isla**_

It didn't take long that the Career pack was full of idiots. First, there was Velvet who I despised with all of my being, moreso than any other of them. She thought she was better than everyone, that she knew everything, that she was stronger and smarter. Then there was Ripple, who had become Velvet's little sidekick and was quickly becoming equally as bad. Luminous was almost as bad as Velvet but quieter, which I could appreciate. Coltan was Coltan. And Safin was charming but stupid, not even a volunteer. He couldn't be trusted.

The first day, I had done everything I could to avoid the five of them up until lunch, when it was impossible. Velvet talked for miles, and I was left with a headache for the rest of the day. Now, on the second day, I had to stay around them.

They were my allies and so I wanted to know their skills. I had busied myself in obstacle courses and spearing dummies, and today wasn't much different. For awhile, in the beginning, we had all split up to practice our individual skills but it was only an hour in that we were all grouped up next to a climbing wall. Climbing wasn't threatening or dangerous but Coltan, ever the practical, had insisted that we try it out.

We lined up, scoping out the other tributes while waiting for another one of us to take a turn, scaling the wall and crossing over onto the bars suspended high in the hair, crossing from one to the next over to the other side. It was dangerous but there was padding on the floor beneath us and if everything went well, no one would break a limb. I knew I could do it but I still felt that twinge of fear over falling.

If anyone broke a leg or an arm during training, they would be kicked out of the alliance, no questions asked, and ravaged the moment they entered the Games. It was risky but we all had that sense of pride that kept us going. I wanted to prove to the Capitol that I was better than they thought an angry teen from Two could be, and I wanted to prove from my allies that I was better than all of them, that I would be their leader, and that they had better not cross me. I wasn't afraid to take risks.

We had been waiting about five minutes just for Ripple to make it halfway up the wall.

I was next and so waiting all this time had really been wearing on my nerves. Especially in the cocky, show off way she strutted up to the wall and made it seem like she would have no problem. I knew there probably wasn't too much to climb in Four but holy shit, did it really need to take her forever? I hoped for her sake that there would be nothing she needed to climb in the arena because she was doing a pretty shitty job of it here.

My arms were crossed tightly over my chest, toe tapping impatiently on the ground as I huffed and puffed, blowing a strand of dark hair out of my face. "Fucking pathetic..." I muttered, glaring up at the blonde girl on the wall.

Not two seconds later was the blonde girl next to me grabbing me by the shoulder and turning me around to face her. "What'd you just say?" she demanded, glowering down at me. I had never realized just how tall she was until right then, she was a goddamn tree, like six foot tall, at least.

I was shocked by her outburst but quickly pushed it aside to glare back up at her. We must have attracted some attention from the boys because I heard Luminous chuckle and I wanted to sock him in the face. My temper wasn't exactly the best but Velvet's must have been worse if she got worked up over a little comment about her new best friend. "I said she's fucking pathetic," I repeated, daring her to fight me. We'd both get in trouble for it but I didn't care. It'd show people I wouldn't hesitate to beat the shit out of a six foot, self-centered bitch. "It's been forever and she hasn't even made it up the wall." I looked around her to the boys. "I say we just kick her out."

Velvet seemed particularly angered by this, shoving my shoulder. She wasn't strong. Not like I was, anyway. She was fast, manipulative, good with weapons. But right then, she didn't have weapons and nowhere to run. She only had her raw frustration and her barely-there ability to throw a punch. "Shut the hell up. She's better than you are."

"Oh look, Velvet's protecting her little girlfriend. It's not like she's going to live anyway. Neither are you, and if you like, I can put you on my personal kill list?"

Velvet was the type of girl who needed people to like her. Because if someone peeled away the pretty face and fake sweet words, you were left with an ugly girl who killed for fun, not for the people she cared about. She volunteered because she wanted to kill people, I volunteered because my parents deserved vengeance. So she couldn't fight. I knew she wouldn't fight because people would like her less. She would be seen as that ugly girl before she went into the Games, and she couldn't have that.

So when I was proven right and she went quiet, and smirked at her and turned back around to see that Ripple had made it a little higher up on the wall. I would be waiting a few more minutes no doubt.

I didn't care if she didn't like me. I didn't care if Ripple or Safin or Coltan or Luminous didn't like me because, in the end, none of them mattered. In the end, I would win and go home, and they would all be dead and gone. In the mean time, I just needed to show them that one of me was worth ten of them and kill whoever stood in the way.

_**Anya Powers**_

It almost made me sad that I was going to have to kill Rev.

He was a really sweet kid and I liked being around him. We decided it was for the best that we don't ally together in the event that one of us has to kill the other. We were childhood friends, it just felt wrong; the idea of killing him. And I knew he could never kill me so it felt like I had an unfair advantage over him.

I did believe that he could make it through, he was smart enough to follow my sister's advice. He knew to run far away from the bloodbath and not stop running until his lungs burned, he knew to not take on a challenge that he couldn't face, he knew that he was better off fleeing than fighting. He was different from me, and I was planning to kill. He told me that he could never hurt a lady, and I pitied him. He would be dead in no time, no matter what he did.

Maybe it was condescending to think that he couldn't take care of himself but it was just the truth! That poor boy would dead within days and there was nothing I could do to stop it, so I let him run off on his own to make sure he didn't get me killed too.

Despite how hard I tried to keep away from the other tributes, I still couldn't shake off a little shadow that had been following me almost the entire day.

The first couple of stations, I figured it was coincidence. After that, I assumed she was trying to imitate my technique, pick up some tips. But by the time I had come around to the knife-throwing for the second time, I knew that she was definitely just following me. Maybe she wanted to say something to me, maybe she was shy, I didn't know but I figured I may entertain her.

I stalked away from the station but turned around to watch her, for the first time. She wasn't half bad, I thought. In fact, I'd say she was even better than me at throwing knives and that was really something because Salem had been teaching me how to throw knives ever since she got back from her Victor Tour. Impressed, I crossed my arms and smirked at the girl from Twelve as she finished her session and walked over to me.

"So I couldn't help but notice that you've been following me," I told her, and she didn't looked fazed in the slightest. Her eyebrows quirked up into her dark bangs and she set her own hands across her chest, mirroring me.

"Oh yeah? Well I've got to say, I'm pretty impressed with your skills." I wasn't too surprised. I figured she had been following me because she thought I was good, and I was right. I was honored to know someone thought that but didn't say so. "I'm more of the lone wolf type but I figured I could pick a few things up from watching you. Twelve doesn't have any Victors and definitely no way to train."

I scanned her from head to toe, considering her. I remembered yesterday when I had seen her with her district partner, and she didn't exactly look like the lone wolf then. But maybe it had been him who followed after her like she was doing to me, trying to learn how to kill and survive. She was definitely different from Rev. She seemed skilled, maybe even with something hidden under the surface, and she didn't know better than to follow people who don't want to be followed.

But maybe it was good that she had followed me. I never would have seen that great performance with the knives if she hadn't. I wouldn't have even spared her a glance.

"Well, maybe we could team up. I mean, if I'm so good that you wanted to follow me and you're so good that I'm actually impressed with you, we could make a pretty could alliance. What do you say?" Now it was my turn to raise my eyebrows at her, almost daring her to say no.

She seemed to consider this for a moment, now scanning her eyes over me, and then a small smile slipped onto her face, her position going relaxed and arms uncrossing. "Only if you can keep up. The name is Carissa, but you can call me Kris." Her small hand, scratched and scarred on the fingers from God knows what, reached out to me and I didn't hesitate for even a second to take it.

"Anya Powers."

_**Cole Tenacity**_

When training was over with, I found myself pleased with my personal growth but I was had no more allies than I did going into the thing. I had originally thought that _maybe _I would ally with Carissa but she had gone off and avoided me. Now I saw her sitting next to Anya, from Five, and I knew that trying to ally with her was a lost cause.

I sat across from Twill now, not really listening to him as he rambled - something like _"It just sucks that so many of these guys are gonna die virgins. I mean, not _me _of course, but still..." - _and instead busied myself by mentally examining everything in the room. I wasn't exactly the most observant fellow and I'd never practiced analyzing my surroundings, but I did my best.

The Careers all sat at a table at the head of the room, most of the district partners sitting together, save for Ripple, from Four, and Velvet, from One, sat happily next to one another and Luminous at the end of the table next to Ophelia, mostly isolated from the rest of the group. It looked like all the rest of the room, some people getting along better than others and nothing more. The next biggest group was the pair from Six, the pair from Three, and the girl from Seven whose partner was sat next to Tessa Von, from Eight. _  
><em>

That was another thing Twill had talked about non-stop was Tessa and how crazy she was. I couldn't see it and apparently neither did Bazaar because he seemed very happy with her clinging to him.

Then there was my table. The tributes with no allies, and unwilling to ask one another if we'd like to ally. Myself, Twill, Oceania, and Rev. Milo, from Eleven, was off in some corner by himself and I was pretty sure that he had no desire to be in an alliance anyway so no one bothered him for one. He was some sort of rebel, rumor had it, the Gamemakers were probably planning to kill him off immediately and no one wanted to be dragged into that, anyway.

Most of the alliances were formed of district partners, which was neither common nor a rarity, it was just something that happened, moreso some years than others.

I did want an alliance. I wanted someone to cling onto but, at the same time, I didn't want to have to kill anyone. I didn't want anyone to distract me from my goal: getting home.

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><p><strong>Cole's POV kinda sucked but I wanted to show a little bit of lunch and also showcase some of the alliances. SOOOo, there you go! I'm going to have a new poll up on my profile, so if you would vote for that, it'd be great! Also, here is the result of the "favorite tribute" poll.<strong>

**2 Votes (Winner): Ripple Seagrace**

**1 Vote: Velvet Labelle, Safin Bayview, Anya Powers, Rev Lockson, Arden Villa, Vernetta Innes, and Oceania Emeli**

**Thank you for reading!**

**~ Lexie **


	12. Private Sessions

**Sort of long A/N, sorry, but please read it!**

**Alongside, some other stuff, I would like to remind you all that there is a blog for this story: mountainsongstory . tumblr . com. Now that we are getting closer to the Games, many new things will be added to the character profiles such as kill count, allies, placing, dead/alive, etc etc. ALSO, if YOU have any suggestions for this story or the website, please please share because I would love to hear all of your ideas.**

**This is a REALLY late chapter, and also REALLY long chapter, and obviously you don't need to read every POV but there's some drama and internal conflict in quite a few of them, so personally I'd read through it all if you can bear it.**

**Now, the next will probably be rather the short (the next is mostly just scores), and I'm not sure about the interviews. Once the scores come out, there will be a poll on my profile and the story will not be able to continue into the games without answering it so make sure you check for that later (but of course, i'll remind you). And that's all for right now! Thank you.**

**~ Lexie**

* * *

><p><span><em><strong>Coltan Tantalum<strong>_

The more time I spent with my allies, the more I disliked them. They were nasty and rude and violent and cruel. They liked to make a show out of intimidating tributes, and there were already rivals forming inside the alliance, private alliances being made within it. It reminded me of when I was younger, when other District Two kids would pick on me, intimidate me, bully me. I started to wonder if I was ever like that. I started to wonder why I ever loved District Two as much as I did, with how bad it was to me until I joined the Academy.

I barely register Atlanti telling us that we have one hour until our private session with the gamemakers, and to review what we had learned in that time. The line of tributes disperses quickly, the air feeling tense between everyone. Even the proudest of my allies look nervous. For one of the first times, we all split up, intent on working on the skills we would show in our sessions as opposed to stick together. It was about our own districts, it was about bringing home honor, not about each other. I knew that my allies wouldn't hesitate to kill me or anyone that stood in their way and I didn't blame them, it was important to add another Victor to your district.

I made my way to the swords, pushing the idea out of my head that the Academy back in District Two did anything but help me. I requested to spar with someone because I knew that the gamemakers would prefer to see me fighting with someone in real life rather than with a dummy. And that was really what it was about; impressing the gamemakers, getting a good score, bringing pride back to my district.

_**Snow Winters**_

I was messed up.

I had to be messed up because in the last couple of days, all I had been thinking about was blood. Blood, guts, screams, cries. It wasn't that I was scared of these things coming out of me or that I was having nightmares of other people in terror. They were more like _dreams _of people in terror. I had been thinking about what a nice shade of red blood was, if human meat would feel the same as the animals in the butcher shop. I dreamt and dreamed of people begging me to stop, of the noises people made when you killed them.

It was really messed up.

I wasn't here to kill people, I was here because my name had been picked out of a glass bowl and I wanted to go home. Sure, I was going to have to kill people to achieve that but I wasn't _sick_, I didn't _want _to kill anyone.

I chalked it up to morbid curiosity.

For the first time since training started, Val and I separated. We were showing the gamemakers separate things and we needed to practice those things. I was still sticking with my knives, it was my most well-known skill and I knew that I could carve up a dummy like a Christmas turkey with it. It helped to pretend that the dummy was a real person and the stuffing was blood, but I pretended that that wasn't a thing. I had learned other things, of course, namely the whip which Val was skilled with - not surprising for her family - and how to survive things like storms, how to treat hypothermia, things like that.

Despite myself, I found myself looking towards Val a lot. The knives and the whips weren't too far off, and every now and then I would see her hand over the crystal snowflake she kept around her neck. I didn't know where she got it or who she got it from, but it was a habit of hers to touch it. I wondered if she would be allowed to keep it. It couldn't really be used as a weapon but two years ago, they had taken away a boy's stuffed rabbit for no apparent reason. Gamemakers were cruel, I wouldn't put it above them to hurt a child just for the hell of it. Then again, I was quickly realizing that I couldn't exactly put it above myself either.

I hoped I didn't have to kill her. We were allies, that meant that if we were the last two in the Games - as unlikely as it was - one of us was going to have to kill the other. Either that, or die from natural causes but I knew that they wouldn't allow the Games to drag on that long and boring with two competitors left. If anything, I hoped her death was quick and painless. She was a nice girl, she deserved better.

_**Luminous Galore**_

The hour ended sooner than anyone wanted to but lasted for an eternity longer than I could stand.

I was _so _ready for my private session. So long as I did everything right - which was the only way I could do things - I would get a ten with flying colors and move on to the next phase which was lead the Careers and take down everyone else.

Easy peasy.

My name was the first to be called and naturally, I had to make a speech about it. I stood and faced the other tributes who waited for all of their turns to start. Most of them looked nervous, sitting there with their tails tucked between their legs, wide eyes on the floor. Amateurs. Others chatted quietly with each other like Ophelia and I had been a moment ago. I cleared my throat loudly to gain their attention and only some eyes went to me. The fact that not _everyone's _eyes were on me was annoying but it'd have to do.

I smirked and pushed my glasses up on my nose, crossing my arms and I could feel the sneer that Velvet gave me, her back turned to everyone else.

"I just want to say good luck to you all, you're going to need it." Now that I'd spoken, more people looked at me and it made me feel even more like a victor, already. Everyone looking at me, whether it was disgust or fear or interest, everyone had an opinion about Luminous Galore. Whether they liked me or not, they knew me. That's what being a Victor was all about. "Twenty-three of us are dead. That would be all of you. But hey, may as well make a name for yourself now. So good luck getting a high score, especially you lower districts. Again, not that it _matters _becau-"

"Luminous Galore."

My name was repeated through the speakers and I caught myself rambling. I had pulled a Velvet, one thing I hated about her so much was her rambling and here I was, doing the same thing. I glanced down and saw Velvet's sneer slip into an amused grin, and I felt anger boil up inside me. Good for me, more anger meant more passion, which meant doing better in the private session. At least, that was always my mentality before I messed up because of how pissed off I was.

This was why I didn't talk much, I tended to get away from myself with pride and things like this happened. I closed my lips tightly, shooting one last glare at Velvet before turning on my heel and stalking into the gymnasium that had once been so filled with energy, an was now empty except for myself and the gamemakers gathered above me. Being District One, and myself, the gamemakers looks interested, all of them putting their attention on me. It felt damn good. With a short nod of greeting, I scanned the area before heading towards the spears.

Fifteen minutes, I had to prove my strength. Fifteen minutes, or until they'd seen enough. I needed to show them everything I could do.

Just like in the training arena, I looked at the dummy, imagined those bright red lips and stupid blonde curls. It'd be great if all that red was her blood instead of lipstick. I imagined Velvet and that made it so much easier to throw a spear right through its center.

**_Velvet Labelle_**

Luminous looked proud of himself when he left, throwing me a smirk. No matter how well he did, though, I knew that I could do better.

Once Luminous had pressed the button on the elevator and headed upstairs, I sat in the utmost excitement. I was practically bouncing in my seat in anticipation, and the few seconds I waited were torture for me. My fingernails tap tap tapped against my pants, and _finally _I heard, "Velvet Labelle."

I popped off my seat, at least knowing that with the show Luminous just gave us tributes, I wouldn't seem like the asshole here. I did look back at everyone, eyes shooting to Ripple and she gave me a smile and a thumbs up. Feeling just that much better about what I could do, I turned and started into the training center, the doors shutting behind me as I walked up to the gamemakers. This would be the last time I saw this place, and I wanted to take it all in. The silver walls, the obstacle courses, the climbing walls, the weapons. I'd never see this again.

"Hello!" I called up to the gamemakers, smiling brightly up at them. I had been smiling a lot more since they whitened my teeth. I smiled a lot anyway, but with my smile that much brighter, I made even more of a lasting impression.

Looking at their faces, some of them even looked charmed. Perfect; just like Mom taught me. I waited a moment for them to tell me to begin and at that point, I had already made a plan for what I would do. Immediately, I made my way to grab an axe. Axes weren't the most common weapon of choice for District One, but I had been using it before I entered the academy. My father would take me out, put a hatchet into my hands and tell me to hit a tree, then hit the same spot over and over again until I could do it from yards away; the same way I taught Pearl.

Tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear, I glanced at the gamemakers just one more time before throwing slicing some heads.

_**Ophelia Isla**_

Based on training, I guessed that Coltan sparred with a trainer and I was stuck between a rock and a hard place deciding whether or not to do the same. On one hand, it had been _my _plan all along. On the other, it might seem like I was copying him, or even worse that my performance was repetitive and boring.

I didn't have too much to think about it because it seemed like there was only a second between training and when they called my name. I was confident but not overly-confident like those jerks from One. Luminous was okay but still cocky and obnoxious. I at least knew that there was a possibility of me dying in these Games; I was just going to work my ass off to make sure that that didn't happen.

I took a breath and stood, tightening my ponytail and heading into the room. The gamemakers were already starting to look a little bored and I pitied District Twelve. They wouldn't be given the time of day, no one would even bat an eyelash at them. Oh well, I at least had some attention directed towards me. I made my decision without really meaning to when I went to grab a bow. In the silent room, the metallic _shing _the arrow made when I picked one up was deafening.

Just to be sure that they were watching me, I glanced at the gamemakers once more. They were, and one was even muttering to another. I hoped it was good but it didn't really matter, did it? These were Capitol people. They were the reason my parents were gone. I wanted to prove a point to them; I was strong, Panem was strong, a rebellion couldn't be far away. All masked under the idea that I was just going for a score. I guess I wasn't very good at making points.

I took a deep breath, drew back the arrow, and shot.

_**Flynn Derezze**_

I had tried really, _really _hard to get plenty of sleep the night before - it would be one of my last chances after all - but with the Games right around the corner, inevitable, just lurking and waiting, it was difficult. I knew that I looked terrible because I had looked into one of the many reflective surfaces all around the gym and there were dark circles under my eyes, I looked paler, I probably looked weaker but if anything I couldn't have looked skinnier. I'd eaten like a king in my time in the Capitol. No matter how much I ate, I couldn't deny how Elijah the morphling addict was starting to look better than I did.

The gamemakers were looking at me, at least, which I took as a good sign. It was in that moment that I wished really, _really _hard that I had some sort of unique skill. I wished that I could use a weapon that wasn't usually used in the Games; that I could use it so well, they _had _to put it in and I would be the only one who could use it. Unfortunately enough, my best weapon lay in a blade but I would probably be better off throwing rocks than with that thing.

Still, despite being really, _really _discouraged, I tried to seem interesting, even if my skill set was the most plain and average thing ever. Blades, traps, finding edible foods. If nothing else, I hoped for a plain and average score.

_**Ciyna Qillon**_

Being only the second non-Career to enter the gym for the gamemakers, doing the _lamest possible thing _first was probably not the best idea. I had been panicking inside - and trying really hard not to show it because no one wanted a leader who cracked under pressure - and hadn't thought to show off a weapon or poisons or sparring. No, I headed right to where I could show off how to build a trap. How many traps would they see today? Enough to bore them out of their minds, and no doubt from the younger kids.

I regretted it the instant I dropped to my knees and took the rope into my hands but there was no turning back at that point. I would just have to hurry through the demonstration and hope they didn't dismiss me before I got a chance to show them anything else.

Unfortunately, I had been hurrying so much that I missed a knot and when I tried to show them how to set it off, it wouldn't work. I groaned, dropped back down and had to undo everything to that point, going through it all again. I stumbled through my words but at least when I set it off the second time, it actually worked. Relieved, I looked to the gamemakers only to see that almost none of them were looking at me. My heart sunk to my stomach and I slowly walked over to the javelins.

Clearing my throat to get their attention didn't work and, defeated, I pressed on until fifteen minutes was over and I was excused.

_**Safin Bayview**_

Miya, Ridget, Mom, Dad, Theo, Nakita, Lennox, William, Mom, Dad, Miya, the baby.

Luminous had told me that when he really wanted to hit something dead center, tear it apart, he thought about someone he hated. The most common at this point was Velvet. It seemed to work for him but I didn't really hate anyone, or want to kill anyone. So now, walking into my session with the gamemakers, I tried to think about the people I cared about.

They would be watching, they would see the scores, they would watch me fight to come back to them. I was doing this for them, so I needed to do my best.

With a deep breath, I stood from the bench I had been seated on next to Ripple and Velvet squeezed in on the other end. She'd already finished but stuck around for some reason or another, to talk to Ripple I guess. I just hoped she wasn't trying to use her or anything, because District One girls were known for being cruel and manipulative. Ripple was a nice girl, she didn't deserve that, so I was still wary of Velvet. Right then it wasn't about either of them, though, it was about the people I loved, the people I needed to stick around for and protect, the niece or nephew I needed to meet.

Lucky for me, they did have harpoons during training and here as well. I hadn't used them much because I /knew/ how to use one, but it was a relief to know that they were there. Harpoons weren't an extremely rare weapon for Four, neither was netting or knives, but it was rare enough for the gamemakers to pay attention when I went to grab one. Or maybe that's just how they were for all the Careers. I felt bad for all the outer districts for a second before pushing my thoughts back into what I needed to focus on - friends, family, the baby.

Unlike Luminous, who put the faces of the names onto the dummies' body, I forced a random face onto it and told myself that this was what I needed to do to get back home.

**_Ripple Seagrace_**

When Safin came back out, he looked much better than he had going in so I could only assume that he'd done well. On his way to the elevator, he shot me a smile and a pat on the shoulder.

"Good luck."

I wasn't high and mighty enough yet to say that I didn't need it. My name was called over the speaker and Velvet told me to "go get 'em," then I was off. I fingered the golden dolphin that hung around my neck anxiously until the doors slid open in front of me and I forced my hand to drop back down. It was time to forget about making friends, the only thing that mattered now was throwing some knives, fighting with some trainers, and proving that I was the best that there could be. The alliance had finally come to the conclusion of whoever got the highest training score would lead and I was determined to do just that.

Coming in, I told myself not to make friends and somewhere along the way, I forgot about that. I went through the motions of showing off my skills - javelin, knives, archery - and thinking to myself the entire time about how stupid I was, how many mistakes I was making. Velvet wasn't a friend, was she? It had only been a few days, I couldn't get that attached to her, especially not when I hated her so much at the beginning. Safin couldn't be a friend because I didn't know him before, even if he was from the same district. Ophelia was a bitch anyway, Luminous was obnoxious, Coltan wasn't half bad though. Coltan was sort of like the big brother I never had.

Velvet was just a side alliance, I convinced myself. If the pack split up, Velvet and I would stick together. We worked well together, we shared strengths and made up for each others weaknesses. We weren't friends, I had been unconsciously coming up with a back up plan. Velvet was a casualty, Velvet wasn't a friend, Velvet was an ally, and Velvet was another person I would have to kill in order to win.

_**Rev Lockson**_

It wasn't until I stepped into that gym, alone, that I realized just how bad I was at everything.

Growing up, I had never touched a knife except for when my mother wanted me to help her with dinner, I had never touched an axe except for when my father needed help chopping wood, I had never so much as looked at a weapon or thought about using it. Here, I had constantly had to ask questions on how to use something, if I was doing well, how to hold it, where to throw it.

I ended up sticking more towards the survival side of things than the weapons, and now that I was alone in that gym with the men and women who held my life in their hands, I was really starting to regret it.

So I did all I could do. I was polite.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen," I greeted. I did _not_ have enough to fill fifteen minutes, my only choice here was to stall for at least a few seconds. Scared shitless staring up at them, I gave a small boy and got a few disinterested nods in return. "My name is Rev Lockson Jr, District Five. It's an honor and a pleasure."

I managed to fill up most of my time like this, chatting idly before and after I did anything, stopping to explain things that they may or may not have already known. I was dismissed early and while I was sure that that was a bad thing, that I did an awful job and would get the worst score of the bunch, I held the hope that my personality was enough to get me a little farther. Then again, I had been called annoying before and only hoped that that wasn't the case here.

_**Anya Powers**_

Being a Victor's sister made it pretty exciting going into the private sessions. It meant that the gamemakers would pay a little more attention to me, or at least more attention than they had given Rev. It meant that they knew I would be capable, they were eager to see me and would probably give me a better score just because I was Salem's little sister.

At least, that's what I thought; that's what I had been told.

When I walked into the gymnasium, the gamemakers couldn't have seemed less interested. They should have been paying attention to me, I was only the tenth person to come out! I was a _Victor's sister,_ didn't that count for _anything? _It wasn't just me expecting too much, I was sure, because I wasn't that self-centered. They just weren't paying attention.

Fortunately, I wasn't stupid enough to shout up at them or try and draw attention to myself besides clearing my throat loudly and heading towards the maces. I didn't know how to use a mace and I hadn't even glanced at them during training, but it looked to me as if no one else did either. It was something new, it would get the gamemakers interested even if for a few minutes before I went to the knives.

It wasn't spiked, just a round head. It felt different in my hand than a knife did, too. It was top heavy, long, and when I tried to hold it with both my hands it felt even more foreign.

Yeah, it may not have been the best idea.

_**Elijah Broberg-Schrader**_

In my unlucky life, to find weapons that I could actually use was pretty fortunate at least by my standards.

Not only to find weapons, but find weapons that weren't used all too often. Not just this year - where the man weapons of choice seemed to be knives - but in the entirety of the Games, blowguns weren't used all that often. Not to say that I didn't like using a knife, I did, but it was nice to have something that was more left field.

I had taken the braided leather off of my wrist to twist it between my fingers. If I tried focused really hard, it still smelled like home, like memories, like Morphling... mostly like home. Once I'd gotten through the door, I slid the bracelet back on and reached up to nervously twist my fingers through my hair, only to find it wasn't there. Resigned to stand there in agony, I walked in and nodded at the gamemakers. None of them nodded back but I didn't expect anything more.

They weren't paying attention, they weren't even looking at me, and I felt an itching annoyance at that. The kind of itch that came behind my eyes and I couldn't scratch, it couldn't be fixed until I stopped being so _irritated. _"Hey," I called up to them." Nari would _kill _me if she were here. I could hear her already, _HOW could you speak that way to them. That's it, you've signed your death certificate, your life is over. _All in her ridiculous Capitol accent.

Some glanced down at me and I looked up at them incredulously, letting out a scoffing sort of noise as I gestured around the gym as if to tell them that hello, it was starting, I was going to do something, it was time to pay attention to me.

Once I had at least some of their eyes on me, I went to grab the blowgun, which was exactly where I'd left it, and though I didn't look at them again, I hoped that they were a little more interested.

I loaded the dart into the gun and took a few moments to compose myself before walking over to the dummys. I had never used a blowgun before three days ago and it made me nervous to even _think _of doing it now, in front of these people who decided life or death for me - and probably already decided to kill me - but if it was one of my best weapons, I had to show it off. Grant told Rosie to do her best so that she wasn't seen as useless, and I wasn't given any advice so I just followed hers. Grant didn't seem to like me, but that was no reason to get me killed.

I aimed and shot. It didn't hit the center of the target, but I hadn't exactly expected to do that great anyway.

_**Rosie Johnson**_

Grant told me to show off what I could do, and Elijah had reminded me time and time again while we were waiting to go into the session. When Elijah came out of the doors, he glanced at me and forced a small smile before going on his way. I thought he mumbled something about how he would be waiting for me upstairs.

The few seconds between Elijah leaving and my name being called were horrible. All I could think of were all the things that could go wrong, all the things that were bound happen, and all the things that could spell out my death for me. I thought of my body being shipped home, and of Luke crying, and of the orphanage going on without me. _Rosie Johnson _was called over the intercom and for a second it sounded sad.

I took a breath and stood, tightened my ponytail, and walked through the large, metallic doors that opened automatically.

"H-hello..." I said, voice small, as I looked up at the gamemakers. This was it, this was the moment of fate. Well... the first one in a long line of moments of fate right around the corner. When none of them really answered me like I expected, I bowed my head and hurried away to show them how to make a trap they'd probably seen a million times before.

In those fifteen minutes, I followed the exact same pattern I had rehearsed in training with all the other tributes. Traps, climbing, archery, running obstacle course, and then knives. I was pooped by the time I had finished but, based on appearances, I may have done the most out of all the tributes so far. That was a nice substitute for not being _great_ at anything.

They looked pleased when they dismissed me. At least, in my mind, that's how a gamemaker looked when they were maybe halfway impressed. In turn, I was pleased when I left. Maybe I actually did have a chance.

_**Bazaar Tane-Flores**_

It may have only been a day but I felt like Tessa and I had a real connection. It really was a shame that one or both of us were going to have to die because we really could have been something had we been from the same place. Twill still occasionally gave me this look that said I was making some sort of mistake, but Tessa had honestly been nothing but sweet and beautiful and romantic.

Maybe that wasn't what I should have been thinking about right before my private session, though.

My name was called and Tessa squeezed my hand in her own. I gave a small smile and kissed her knuckles before standing and letting go of her. I wasn't all that worried about it and walking into the gymnasium, In fact, I was relatively at ease. I'd been using things like hatchets and axes my whole life, and now that I had been able to polish up on my technique, there wasn't much to worry about. I walked on in there with no problems, and picked up some hatchets.

I never expected the gamemakers to stay interested for as long as they did. The Careers had stopped coming in long ago, and I figured that they would give up paying attention once the last one had come through, but they seemed rather attentive as I showed off my skills - all more physical than mental, but hopefully that wouldn't affect much. They saw the Games as a survival of the fittest thing just as much as everyone else, right? Hopefully.

_**Arden Villa**_

The more I had watched Bazaar in training, the more I wished that I hadn't parted ways with him. Even more so when I tried to get into the Careers and they told me that I _might _have had a chance if I brought my district partner. Yeah, that had hurt. When I walked into the gymnasium, and the gamemakers all seemed to be paying rapt attention to me, however, was the moment that I _really _wished that I'd stuck with Bazaar.

Really, when did the gamemakers ever pay attention to Seven? We didn't have a single victor yet, so it must have taken something really impressive for them to actually want to watch me. It wasn't that I thought my allies were _bad_, I thought as I gripped the bow between my fingers and slid the arrow into it. I would have shown them that I could string a bow as well but it was already set and I'd never really strung a bow made out of metal.

_They just couldn't take care of me. I knew that Bazaar would be able to do that, he was strong, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to pull him into an alliance at this point anyway. He had Tessa and was pretty head over heels for her, I could only flirt my way so far. _

I drew back the arrow and drew in a breath, narrowing my eyes at the target. I tried to clear my mind.

_How was I supposed to survive without good allies? Elijah seemed strong but who knew how well he'd do considering he'd been living off of Morphling for who knows how long. Rosie was twelve years old, and I thought she was sweet and wanted to help her, but she wouldn't keep me alive. Flynn and Ciyna were just as bad. I wasn't very talented either but with someone to protect me, I'd make it a lot farther._

They were no doubt getting bored. I hadn't even shot my first arrow.

I finally managed to clear my mind, focus only on the target.

_You're going to die._

It popped into my head the instant I shot. I missed.

_**Twill Becker**_

My problem with the whole scoring thing was that I was great at everything and no one else really saw it. I could use a knife pretty well, I could set a damn good trap, and I was smart as anything, but I couldn't figure out how to show this. I wasn't good at _throwing _knives, I was good at stabbing things with them. These guys had probably seen a million traps before and so mine wouldn't be too impressive, no matter how well-made it was. And it wasn't too easy to show that you were smart in a room full of weapons, at least I didn't think so.

So yeah, in the end, it came down to the fact that I wasn't great at anything and didn't know how to showcase the things I was decent at.

I went in there and I bullshitted it.

I knew that there was no hope when I went in there and they were all completely disinterested. Tessa was hopeless, the duos from every district after me was doomed because the gamemakers were bored and wanted to go back home. I wanted to go back home.

My thoughts were racing a mile a minute as I went through the motions of doing and explaining things. What did they think of me? Was I going to die? What would my score be? How were Mom and Dad? Were it any other day, I wouldn't be thinking any one of these things, it would just be ridiculous. I was still just as confident and asshole-ish as ever, but I had things to worry about now. Myself, for instance. But I guess that's how things had always been.

_**Tessa Von**_

Bazaar had waited with me for my turn. We weren't the only people to do that but Bazaar was still with me long after Ripple and Velvet left, and I was pretty sure we were the only couple to stick together despite the rumors that floated around about the two girls. It was nice to not be the topic of everyone's gossip for once, but I guess it just meant that no matter where one went, teenagers would always be talking about other teenagers.

Twill glanced at us on his way out but didn't say anything and it felt like no time passed before my name came through the speakers. A small whimper left me, but Bazaar was right there to squeeze my hand and give me that warm, comforting smile. How could I have ever cared about Vinny when there was someone like this out there? And I wouldn't need a piece of Bazaar's shirt, he was always going to be right there with me. No one could take Bazaar away from me, no one but myself and that definitely wasn't going to happen.

"Hey, it's going to be fine," he told me, giving me a small peck on the lips. I knew Vinny for years and fell in love quickly. I knew Bazaar for only a few days and fell in love even quicker, that had to mean something, right? _He's going to leave, he doesn't love you, kill him. _I smiled up at the boy and kissed him once more before standing, and squeezing his hand one more time.

"Thanks, Bazaar." _I love you so much._

We parted ways and my smile dropped the instant I turned around. I loved Bazaar, I did, but it was tiring to be so sweet with these thoughts that ran through my mind all the time. Still, it was all about a good impression, I wouldn't get anywhere if people didn't learn to adore me. There were people I needed to be close to, like Bazaar, and everyone else could go jump in a river.

_**Valmir Septim**_

Just watching her, I knew that that District Eight girl had to be crazy. Speaking from the point of a crazy person, she couldn't be that sweet, no one was. She had to have something wrong with her and watching the way she clung to the boy from Seven really proved that. Poor guy was dead already but, on the bright side, that was one less person in my way.

Speaking of people who get in the way, Vernetta was really starting to become one of those people for me. Coming into the Games, I wanted to strangle her already. Not that much longer, I had no problems with killing her but didn't actively want to do it. And by this point, I didn't really want to kill her at all. At night, she would sneak into my room and talk forever about her family and friends, all the things that I didn't have. She talked about school and the boyfriend she'd had once, she talked about how her brother had reacted at his first Reaping and how she had at hers, how embarrassed she was.

The thing about Vernetta was that it wasn't _easy _to forget the things she said. She got so _excited _about the stupidest things, she was passionate and determined, and she made you remember all the things that she told you. It made it really difficult to kill someone when you knew their life story. She was a person suddenly, she was a girl that I _cared _about - she was the _first _person I'd cared about since Antoinette died, and no matter how much I tried to push away the thought _I can't kill her, _I knew that if the time came, I wouldn't be able to do it.

She chatted with the girl from Ten behind us, and I didn't want to stop her because I remembered what she had said to me about controlling her. As much as I didn't want her to make friends that would kill her, I was one of those friends, and so I forced myself to not say anything.

I was too deep in thought to really care anyway, and I just stared at Vernetta. Not consciously, of course, but I was pretty sure that other people were starting to notice. Then the girl from Eight came out and I turned away, tapping my fingers impatiently against my knee as I waited for my name to be called. A minute or so passed and then the robotic voice came so I stood silently, ignoring the little "good luck" that Vernetta gave me.

Going in, I didn't try very hard to impress the gamemakers because they weren't impressed anyway. Maybe they looked when I sword-fought with a training member but I didn't bother to check.

_**Vernetta Innes**_

As much as I didn't want to think about Valmir dying, I had to think ahead. If I was going to make it out, he would have to die at some point or another and I needed to be prepared for that. Valora and Snow seemed like really nice kids and so I didn't hesitate to make friends with them. They were my backup plan if Valmir died. I would find them and continue through the Games until we needed to split up.

We discussed all that _after_ Valmir had gone in, of course, because I knew that he wouldn't take well to hearing us talk about his possible death. Hell, if he heard me saying any of that, he may have just left the alliance, and I didn't want that at all. I just wanted to be prepared for whatever may happen.

Valmir didn't seem to be in there very long and I didn't even realize he had come out until I heard my name being called.

My eyebrows furrowed and I turned to see Valmir coming out of the gym, not really looking at anything but the floor. I rose from the bench slowly, going over to him and touching his arm gently. "I'll see you upstairs, okay?" I could already tell that it hadn't gone very well but right then wasn't the time to push it. I had to get into my session and I didn't want him to blow up right there in front of everybody. Well... what people were left. He gave me a small nod without looking at me and I nodded back, walking towards the doors right as he walked towards the elevator.

Maybe it made me look a little too District Nine with my hair in two ponytails, but there I was and there was no going back at that point. Not that this was really about my hair, it was more like.. there was no going back with anything. Now I had to impress these people with what little things I had picked up.

Not only were they not paying me any attention, but it didn't help that I only knew the most cliche and basic of things. I immediately went to the survival stations, intent on showing off my smarts. That was what I mostly relied on the area looked rather untouched, so I hoped that it would be something new for the gamemakers - as boring as a new thing it may have been. I threw some knives, and was halfway down climbing a rope when I was dismissed.

_**Valora Zenner**_

I was honestly scared for Vernetta being with Valmir, so it was a relief when she asked if she could count on us to back her up.

She was a sweet girl and Valmir was terrifying. To me, he looked unpredictable, unkind, ferocious, unstable, and sadistic. I was worried that he'd torture her the instant that gong when off if he wasn't already. Snow, on the other hand, was the prime example of a good boy to ally with. He was younger, nice, good at following directions. It was clear that he wouldn't snap like Valmir already had and so Vernetta sticking with us was just smart.

Vernetta had given us nothing more than a little wave as she hurried to the elevator, no doubt to placate her psycho district partner. Poor Vernetta. It didn't take long for my name to be heard and I left Snow's side to go into the gym, my plan for the session delicately mapped out in my head. All I could hope was that I didn't blank the moment I went to start; I wasn't very good in front of a crowd.

I nodded at the distracted gamemakers in greeting and took a deep breath. I was confident. I may have had a few nerves right then but I was sure that I could win this game if I tried hard enough. All I needed was to be sure that they would put a whip in the arena, but that would be saved for last. For three days now, I had planning out how I would do this session. I needed them to remember me, and that was always done best by saving the best thing for last.

I started by making a trap, one of the simpler ones, and then a more complicated one, but not very much. They didn't really teach complicated traps at any of the stations, it was only the basics. The only people who could make complicated traps were the people who had been learning them long before we arrived in the Capitol. After traps, I went to show them my survival skills, and then how I could do in an obstacle course.

It was as I was moving towards the weapons that I heard them speak.

"Thank you, you're dismissed."

What?

I stopped dead in my tracks, glancing around before looking up at them.

"What?"

"We've seen enough, thank you, Valora."

No no no, this couldn't be happening.

"No, wait!" Augusta would kill me, Snow would kill me, even the "mentor" from District Two would kill me if they knew that I was saying these things to a gamemaker but this couldn't be happening! Sure, I'd played around with a knife or thrown and axe but I was best with a whip, I needed one of those. I was sure that none of the other districts would have someone who was good with those, so I _needed _to show them that I was good with it. "Wait wait, I have one more thing I need to show you. _Please."__  
><em>

_**Milo Knox**_

I was never the kind of guy to conform, especially not to the Capitol, so when I walked into that gymnasium it wasn't with the intention to show them what I had. So what if I got a really bad score? I was dead anyway, I knew that I wouldn't be going home to Mom or Aunt Maizy, I may as well go out fighting this shit Game.

I stormed inside, twisting my ring around my finger and thinking about what my Mom told me in our last few minutes together. She'd cried and told me I had beautiful eyes and she loved me and missed me and to try my hardest. I loved my mom, I did, and I wanted to make her happy, but when did I ever do what she told me to? I had to let the Capitol know that they were shit and they wouldn't be doing this for much longer. If twenty-three more kids had to die for this system to end, I'd gladly lay down my life for it.

I walked into the gym, glaring around the area before turning my scowl up to the gamemakers, all too busy eating and drinking to pay attention to me. Temperamental as always I bit down on my lip and then burst out with a, "Hey!" God, I was stupid. I was starting to regret this decision already, but I was already doing it and I would continue doing it. I got a few glances but they lasted for maybe half a second, then they were all back to making pleasant conversation about how many kids would die in the bloodbath, probably. "Capitol _scum."_

That got them to shut up. The silence that followed was so sudden that even I felt my scowl falter a bit. Most of them looked at me now, but I wasn't close enough to see just how mad they were at me. I stared them down for a few seconds before huffing. "Give me a sparring partner."

There was a beat of silence and then one turned to talk to an Avox who scurried off and within seconds, there was someone out there, padded up for protection and ready to fight me. I would have broke his nose if he weren't wearing a mask, honestly. Instead, I just went at him and pretended that this was Eleven, I was in the fields or on the streets or had one too many, this was some guy who had started shit with me, and I was going to fuck him up. I wasn't really a talker when I did much of anything, let alone fight, but I still had a message to get across and they were still mostly quiet so I could only assume they were listening.

"District Eleven if going to fuck you guys up. All the districts are. Panem is going to rise up against you and knock down this _shitty _world you have where you can... where you can just _kill _kids. We're going to kill you. I'll die to make sure all of you fucking die."

I went on like this, talking and fighting, talking and fighting until they dismissed me. I left gracefully by spitting on their floor and stomping out.

_**Oceania Emeli**_

I knew that Milo had messed up the second he came out. This theory was pretty much confirmed by how it took more than five minutes before my name was called. And then when I came in, seeing the gamemakers' faces, I was scared for my life, honestly.

I automatically wanted to apologize for whatever he had done, and let them know that not all people from Eleven were like him, _I _wasn't like him. No doubt Milo had shouted at them a lot, though, and so I decided it was best to just stay quiet, keep my head down, and go about what I needed to do. I didn't dare to look at them again but I felt as if they were staring at me, and why couldn't I just be _brave_. Not Milo's levels of stupid, but brave. Why couldn't I look at them? I wanted to be smart and strong and brave and elegant like Nell but instead I was too afraid to do anything besides throw some spears and hatchets, run around a little, and then leave.

_**Cole Tenacity**_

Oceania's session didn't last nearly as long as Milo's had, and the gamemakers left very little time between her leaving and my name being called. I stood promptly, glad to have the uncomfortable tension of Kris and I being the only ones in there be lifted. We didn't dislike each other but we weren't familiar, weren't even friends, and we only spoke to each other when it was necessary. Having the two of us be the only ones in a big empty room previously filled with twenty-two other people wasn't exactly fun.

The instant I entered the gym, I felt a sense of dread. I knew that I couldn't really kill anything. I depended on surviving, not killing other things, and I only hoped that that could pull me through. I was a big guy and I knew that they expected me to beat the shit out of something or another, but I hoped it was a pleasant change instead of a disappointment.

The best way to grab their attention, I guessed, was to go straight to weapons. The gamemakers no doubt wanted to see their tributes hurting other things, and so that was what I wanted to start with. I wanted them to like what they saw, at first if nowhere else. Too afraid to look up at them, I simply shot a few arrows - none of them hitting dead center but close enough - and then worked my way down to the things I could really do.

After the archery, I went and set some traps, most of them being the kind that I learned back in district Twelve. I had tried to do traps here in training but they didn't teach anything much more than the very basics and if I wanted to keep the attention I wasn't sure if I ever had, then I needed to be a little more than mediocre.

I finished with the medicine, and that was something that I definitely knew how to do. I had always made medicine for my family and even some of the other ones around the district. District Twelve wasn't known for being able to afford things like medicine or food, and I had always wanted to help. I hoped that all these things could at least pull me a five or six, that would leave me out of being a target hopefully. When I had finished, I spared a glance up at them and not a single one of them were looking at me.

_**Kris Bossi**_

It was when I entered that gymnasium and stood in front of the gamemakers that gravity crashed down around me along with the rest of my world. The perfect reality I'd crafted in my mind fell to pieces, and I was left standing there, shell-shocked, for a few seconds. This wasn't something that I could get out of.

All my life, from the moment I ran away from the orphanage at ten years old, I had been able to run away. I had been able to pick a lock and flee, I had been able to control the situation. Up until that moment, in my mind I could manipulate the situation however I wanted it. I could leave any time I wanted. In that moment, standing in that cold metallic gym, I realized that there was nowhere to run. I also realized that I didn't know how to _do _anything.

For my whole life, I had been picking locks and stealing things. Hell, the whole reason I ran away at ten years old was because I'd gotten the snot beaten out of me by other kids. What use was I going to be in an arena full of ruthless killers? I wasn't ruthless. I didn't know how to do anything but throw some knives, and pick a few locks, maybe work with some poisons.

I snapped back when one of them said my name down to me. Right. There was nowhere to run, I had to do this. I blinked a few times before hurrying over to the knives. Anya had been impressed with my knife-throwing and she was Victors' sister so surely the gamemakers would too, right? None of the Careers seemed to be very into knife-throwing so it wasn't like it would be very old news.

Nerves wracked through me and ruined my chances at having a really good private session. I would get a bad score, I just knew it, and with how pathetic and average I already looked, it couldn't help.

All my life, my appearance had been a strength. All my life, I had only been practicing things that would never help me. And now that I couldn't run away, I was fucked.

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><p><strong>This is a disgustingly long chapter, I am so sorry but hopefully you all weren't TOO bored and it kept you sort of entertained. Until next time.<strong>

**~ Lexie**


	13. Scores

**So school has started! I know last chapter took forever to get up and I'm hoping that it won't take that long very often but I'm not making any promises, I'm not exactly great with update schedules. So, yeah, we'll just see what happens. I can still promise that I'm not quitting this story, however. **

**_butterflygirl99: _**I liked going into the minds of each of the tributes and finding out just a little more about their personalities. **I know right! There were things that I really love about the characters that I didn't even really realize/get to explore until last chapter (coughcough like Anya's self-centeredness and how oblivious she is to it, that's one of my favorite things about her to write cough). **

**There's some stuff at the bottom so go ahead and read on.**

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><p><span><em><strong>Luminous Galore<strong>_

We were all spread out on the couch, eyes trained on the screen intensely. Velvet was idly chatting with one of the stylist assistants who was filing away at my district partner's nails. For the first time, I was seeing that Velvet actually had a _lot _of freckles, all over her shoulders and back. There weren't too many on her face and I wondered how self-conscious she was of them. Of course she'd be self-conscious about them, they were spots that reminded her she wasn't flawless. Jett and Rhya were to the right of me, and just as I realized Annika wasn't there, the Capitol woman came bouncing in with a tray of cookies and candies and drinks, setting them on the table in front of us.

"Oh I'm so excited!" she cried, voice still as high and body still as awkward and clumsy as they had been at the Reaping. The Reaping. It felt like only a couple hours had passed since I left District One, but in only a few seconds. "Here, I made something for everybody. Velvet, look this is very good for your skin, I know you care about that." She handed a drink over to the blonde who smiled gratefully back, and then Annika was turning to me. "And Luminous-"

She was cut off by the big television, Roni Peirce - the man who had been hosting the Hunger Games and interviewing the tributes for as long as I could remember - greeting us with a big smile.

_**Ophelia Isla**_

We all sat with bated breath, impatiently waiting as Roni talked on and on about how well all the tributes did, good luck to them, blah blah blah. Or maybe it was only me who felt annoyed and anxious, but either way, I was on my toes just _waiting _for him to say the scores. If there was one thing I didn't like, it was not being able to do anything about something I didn't like and this was one of those times.

Finally, I saw Luminous' face slide onto the screen and the breath all left my lungs.

"Starting with District One, Luminous Galore..." There was a long pause that I knew he wouldn't do for any of the rest of the tributes, it'd take too long, so I was unnecessarily anticipating a stupid number for another few seconds. "With a score of nine."

Nine. I could work with nine. I could definitely do better than a nine, right?

"Next is Velvet Labelle, District One, with a score of... nine."

Alright, so far this was going really well.

Coltan was next and he was who I really needed to worry about. I was almost completely sure that I could beat out Ripple and Safin, but Coltan was big and strong and that could nearly be enough to beat me. Looks alone could get him a higher score.

"District Two, we have Coltan Tantalum with a score of _ten._" The room burst into cheers for Coltan but he only smiled and waved them off, he was humble like that and it really pissed me off. No one could _honestly _be that nice, so he had to be faking it. I also knew that I wouldn't be getting an eleven, but so long as I got at least a ten, then it wouldn't be too hard to get to lead the Careers, right? Hell, Coltan was the kind of guy to just hand it over to me because he was "nice."

The room hardly silenced once Roni said my name. Though it was quieter, there were still softspoken "good jobs" being delivered to the boy and pats on his back. I sat on the opposite side of the couch, just staring at the screen.

"- Ophelia Isla," I heard, and felt my breath stop. "Seven."

Then the room was quiet. I glared at the screen and shot up. "A _seven?_" I shouted incredulously, and no one had even a single calming word to say. They all probably felt the same as me, how could I get a _seven?_ It wasn't that I'd done bad in the session, I knew that, I had done better than I usually did. So how on Earth did I get a seven? I had no chance of leading the pack now. I had to figure something out, somehow.

Coltan set his hand on my arm, and I shrugged it off quickly. "Ophelia, it's okay. Training scores barely mean anything, it's going to be fine." Who would be stupid enough to sponsor a tribute from Two who got a seven as her training score? No one would.

I glanced around the room, only seeing faces that looked... sorry for me, and then I hurried out, running back to my room and locking myself away.

_**Rev Lockson**_

Salem was the first to jump up, letting out a cheer. I knew that Anya would start smiling, as would everyone else, and as not to feel out of place, I did as well.

"A seven!" she cried, turning towards us with a bright grin. "She got a _seven! _Even you two can beat that, ahah, this is hysterical!"

I forced a small laugh and rubbed the back of my neck. Anya may have been able to get more than a seven, but me? It didn't feel right laughing at Ophelia anyway. Even if she was supposed to be something like my enemy, she was probably feeling terrible, especially so when her district partner got a ten. I felt like a traitor, just sitting there and letting people laugh at the misfortune of some poor girl.

They hardly quieted down so when the faces of District Three slid onto the screen, I only waited for another set of numbers to flash onscreen.

_**Flynn Derezze**_

I was only focused on the screen. Not the small chatter around Ciyna and I, not anyone's scores but ours, I only needed to know a number. I had never imagined myself being this stressed over a number. My life had once been a rope and had shrunk down to nothing but a hair, whatever number flashed on that screen would decide whether that hair snapped or strengthened. My entire survival rested on a number.

Once Roni was finished reeling from the shock of the Two girl only getting a seven, he looked back at the camera, and smiled once more. "Flynn Derezze.." I felt a little more pressure between my fingers. "With a score of five."

Despite the fact that I hadn't been expecting much more, I still felt myself deflate actually hearing it. Elissa patted my back one, two, three times without any actual care put into it and Watt only scoffed.

"Hey, don't worry about it, Flynn. I only got a five and here I am with you two. Scores don't mean too much so long as you do good in the interview and you know how to survive, alright?"

I couldn't tell if I nodded or not. Cold numbness had crept over me from the moment that _5 _had appeared on screen. I was dead, I was going to die. Without a good score, I wouldn't get sponsors. Three hardly ever got sponsors, well done interview or not. I was never going to see Gemma's bedhead again, or Vega's smile when I beat her at games. I would never see Latsey, who was so excited to have this be her last year eligible for games. I'd never see Eddie's tooth - which had been bugging her for a week when I left - fall out. I'd never hear Joel tell me things I didn't understand. I'd never smell Mom's pancakes. I'd never _ever _meet my dad.

The pressure between my fingers returned and Ciyna whispered to me, "He's right. Don't worry, you'll be fine."

I didn't know why but it did settle me down. I felt the coldness melt away slowly, in the way that one saw an icicle melt, one drip at a time.

Ciyna's face appeared on screen and I practically felt her heart stop in anticipation.

"-...With a six." I was selfishly glad that she didn't do much better than I did.

With a small smile, pleased or sad I couldn't tell, Ciyna squeezed my hand once more before letting it go.

**_Rosie Johnson_**

The boy from Four - Safin - got a nine and the girl - Ripple - got a ten. Elijah had said that he was impressed she had gotten that, especially considering that he had seen her on the climbing wall and had taken for_ever _to scramble up it. Then again, I had seen the boy from Two do the same thing, and he got a ten as well. They probably just didn't do any climbing, I guess.

After they were gone, the face of the boy from Five was accompanied by a five, and the girl - who terrified me because she looked like she murdered people for fun - got an eight. I could only imagine how much more angry the girl from Two would be that an outside district had a better score than she did.

Then it was Elijah's face on the television and I perked up, leaning forward to rest my elbows on my knees and stare at the screen. Elijah sat in a similar position, and Nari sat beside me, hand rubbing my back slowly. She had become somewhat like the mother I never had in the past couple of days, and I came to realize that I would miss her almost as much as I would miss my big brother. Almost; I would never miss anyone as much as I would miss Luke.

"Elijah Broberg-Schrader." He mispronounced his name, saying it something like "Elijah Brahberg Schraderr" and I saw the boy scowling out of the corner of my eye. In any other circumstance, I would have giggled but this was too stressful for me to do that. Even Nari's hand on my back stilled, and I only stared intensely at the screen. "With a score of four."

I saw him tense up beside me and I turned to face him. "...You okay?"

He didn't say anything in return. His jaw clenched, lips thinned, but he didn't say a word. When I saw water collecting in his eyes, I decided to turn away. Sure, it was nice to comfort someone who was crying but... when someone was trying not to cry, it was sometimes better to just pretend to not have seen it. I had never seen Elijah cry and did not plan on it right then.

"Rosie Johnson." I didn't even have time to think about poor Elijah, my name was being called by the man on screen so quickly. "With a score of five."

I should have been happy, I think, but I only felt worse that Elijah got a worse score than a twelve year old.

_**Twill Becker**_

I did not expect a good score. I was a piece of shit in the private session so it was pretty hopeless. Tessa probably wouldn't do much better but I didn't care about Tessa, at all. I didn't care about her boyfriend either. If Bazaar wanted to sign his death certificate quicker by teaming up with Miss Crazy then let him be my guest.

I sat in the center of the couch, melting into the plush couch and arms crossed over my stomach. Tessa sat in a chair, knees curled up and blanket thrown over her lap. Right then, she didn't looked innocent or sweet. There was no one there for her to act for. She was staring into space, seeming to be thinking hard about something and I didn't even want to know. It was when Roni said Bazaar's name that Tessa let out a baby-voiced, "Oh!" and looked towards the television screen.

"Nine."

I could care less about District Seven so I only watched Tessa as her face turned into a bright smile and she jumped up from her seat, throwing her hands up into the air. "Yay! He got a nine. Oh, he's going to do so good." Her giggles sounded like poison dripping and I could practically feel the affectionate smiles that everyone around me threw at her. Was I the only one who understood that she was a psycho? I was the only one who knew her before this, I guess, but even I could see that every smile, every word, every stupid little thing she said was fake.

The girl from Seven got a six and no one seemed to care very much about that. In my opinion, she was really cute. I had seen her sticking around with the pairs from Five and Three, and even that was a stupid idea. Maybe I could convince her to pair up with me, if it wasn't too late.

By the time my face appeared on the screen, Tessa was still chatting excitedly - and _loudly _- to everyone who would listen, which was everyone.

"Shut _up _Tessa," I snapped at her, sneering at glaring at the girl. God, didn't she know when to stop? Everyone already thought that she was a lamb frolicking through a field of white lilies, she didn't need to be annoying on top of that obvious lie.

She quieted and Lionel pinched my arm. "Don't be rude, Twill."

_**Oceania Emeli**_

I didn't expect a good score for myself or Milo. As soon as I got upstairs, I found Finch and Milo blowing up at each other once again, but it wasn't only Finch who was angry at him this time. Persephone was mad, the stylists were mad, even Nell was scolding him. Apparently he had done exactly what I expected of him, insult the gamemakers, insult the Capitol, basically make himself a huge target. He was going to die on day one, he was going to get a terrible score, and because I was his district partner, I was too.

Thanks Milo.

The two of us were sitting on the couch, while Nell and Finch sat at the dining table, watching the TV from there. Every now and then, they would chirp in to say something but Milo hadn't said a single thing. In turn, there wasn't very much that I could say.

I was surprised when the boy from Seven got a nine, then suspicious that he hadn't been hanging around with the Careers. With a score like that, he definitely could have been with them. Nell and Finch both seemed to agree that it was very suspicious and that he probably had a secret alliance going on. I was again surprised when the boy from Eight only got a four. He seemed better than that, but then again, so did the boy from Six. The girl from Eight _again _surprised me when she got a nine. How in the world did she ever get a nine? She was tiny and sweet and seemed pretty useless. Finch called it suspicious.

The pair from Nine both got fives, and that was average enough. It didn't shock me. The boy from Ten got a six and the girl got a seven. They had seemed pretty weak, too, and I would have called it surprising but at that point, it was time for our scores. Other tributes' scores matter a _lot _but it was hard to focus on them when I was crossing my fingers and praying to whatever God may exist. I bit my lip almost to the point of breaking, and shut my eyes only to listen.

"Milo Knox." Even Roni sounded bitter saying his name, the whole Capitol must have found out. Now they'd hate Eleven even more. Way to go, Milo. "With a score of four."

Well. That wasn't as bad as it could of been. I heard Milo let out a _tch _next to me, but I only bit my lip harder, prayed harder. Come on, come on, come on. I didn't want to be a target, I didn't want to be seen the way that Milo was just because I was his district partner. Please, please, please.

"Oceania Emeli, with a score of _six._" I had never felt more relieved in all my life.

_**Cole Tenacity**_

This was what it all came down to. Every minute since the morning of the Reaping had just been me hoping, anticipating, and failing. I could only hope and anticipate that I wouldn't fail this time, that the pattern would quit and I would get a decent training score. I knew that not everything relied on the score, that I still had a chance to make an ally, and that I could still do well in my interview, but it was stressful. Scores were still a big thing.

I didn't have an ally, and I wasn't exactly a fan favorite in the Capitol. Well... technically, I had no way to know that, but still. I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be a fan favorite.

I already knew that Kris would do better than me, but I could still hope that it wouldn't go terribly, right?

Oceania's face was replaced with mine on the screen and I felt myself holding my breath. The fraction of a second that it took him for him to say my name was dreadful, and in the few seconds pause he gave before saying the score, ice swept over my body, freezing me. The tips of my fingers ached in anticipation, my face felt cold, there was a pressure bearing down on my chest. The only other time I had felt anything like this was when I woke up, couldn't move, and kept dreaming. That was the most similar feeling to this; fear, panic, numbness.

"Eight." All the air left my lungs at once.

An eight? An eight. An eight!

I felt a grin slide onto my face and Daisy patted my back, congratulating me. "That's a wonderful score, especially for Twelve. Fantastic job."

There were some muttered agreements but none from Kris. I glanced over at the girl who stared at the screen. I wasn't sure if she even processed my score, she was probably too focused on her own. Not that I blamed her. She was the last score to be announced, I could only imagine how I had felt but a million times worse for Kris.

"Carissa Bossi." The only movement from her was her eyes narrowing at the screen a bit. "With a score of seven."

It was a slightly above average score and if it had been me in her place, so close to matching her score but not quite there, I would have felt pretty bad. But she only smiled, like everything was going according to whatever plans she had dancing around in her perfect little world.

* * *

><p><strong>So there's the super short chapter I promised you. I can't wait to get to the Games so that I can have longer sections for each tribute hhh.<strong>

**Alright, so to go over the scores (which are posted on the blog if you ever forget):**

**Luminous Galore: 9 **  
>Velvet Labelle: 9<strong>**

**Coltan Tantalum: 10**  
><strong>Ophelia Isla: 7<strong>

**Flynn Derezze: 5**  
><strong>Ciyna Qillon: 6<strong>

**Safin Bayview: 9**  
><strong>Ripple Seagrace: 10<strong>

**Rev Lockson: 5  
>Anya Powers: 8<strong>

**Elijah Broberg-Schrader: 4**  
><strong>Rosie Johnson: 5<strong>

**Bazaar Tane-Flores: 9**  
><strong>Arden Villa: 6<strong>

**Twill Becker: 4**  
><strong>Tessa Von: 9<strong>

**Valmir Septim: 5**  
><strong>Vernetta Innes: 5<strong>

**Snow Winters: 6**  
><strong>Valora Zenner: 7<strong>

**Milo Knox: 4**  
><strong>Oceania Emeli: 6<strong>

**Carissa Bossi: 7**  
><strong>Cole Tenacity: 8<strong>

**SO NOW! Now that you know the scores, there is are 2 new polls up on my page regarding who you think will/want to die in the bloodbath. The next chapter is the last one before the Games, and so the story will not be able to continue to the bloodbath until I get at least 1 answer so please please vote ASAP. Thank you!**

**~ Lexie**


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